Brenda Song

Brenda Song (born March 27, 1988) is an American actress, singer, film producer, and model. Song started in show business as a child fashion model. Her early television work included roles in the television shows Fudge (1995) and 100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd (1999). After many commercials and television roles in the late 1990s, Song won a Young Artist Award for her performance in The Ultimate Christmas Present(2000). She made her screen debut in Santa with Muscles (1996) and appeared in 20th Century Fox's Like Mike (2002). Her movies on the Disney Channel include Get a Clue (2002) and Stuck in the Suburbs(2004). When she was six years old, Song moved with her mother to Los Angeles to support her acting career; the rest of the family followed two years later. As a young girl, Song wanted to do ballet, while her younger brother wanted to take taekwondo. She said, "My mom only wanted to take us to one place," so they settled on taekwondo. Although Song cried all the way through her first class, she now holds a black belt in taekwondo. Song was named an All-American Scholar in the ninth grade. She was homeschooled and earned a high school diploma at age 16, then took courses at a community college and online from the University of California, Berkeley, with a major in psychology and a minor in business. Song started in show business as a child fashion model in San Francisco after being spotted in a shopping mall by an agent from a modeling school. She began acting at the age of five or six in a Little Caesars commercial, and then a Barbie commercial. Her first film role was in the 1995 Requiem, an AFI student short film by actress Elizabeth Sung. "She came in confident [at the auditions]. She was very focused, and it was very obvious that she loved what she was doing," said Sung. The film won a CINE Golden Eagle award. Two of Song's early roles led to recognition in the Young Artist Awards. Her role in the 2000 Disney Channel Original Movie The Ultimate Christmas Present won her the award for "Best Performance in a TV Movie Comedy, Supporting Young Actress" In 2005, Song began playing the lead female role of London Tipton in the Disney series The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and The Suite Life on Deck. The character was noted as Disney's longest continuous female character in October 2009. Song gained more fame after she played the title role in the Disney Channel Original Movie, Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior, which received over 5.7 million viewers on the night of its premiere. In 2006 Song was named the "Queen of Disney" by Cosmogirl Magazine. In the late 2000s, she starred in the coming-of-age drama Special Delivery, College Road Trip, and The Social Network (2010). She was the celebrity endorser of Disney Cruise Lines in 2010 and also became the spokesperson of the clothing brand Op in 2011. Song has been described as one of "young Hollywood’s most promising rising stars" and a "young phenomenon on the rise" by media outlets. TV Guide listed her in its 2008 list of "13 Hottest Young Stars to Watch".