If there’s one thing Brenda Song knows, it’s acting. Well, that and basketball. She definitely knows basketball.
The 38-year-old Running Point star is a seasoned veteran onscreen. It sounds like a ridiculous thing to say about an actor yet to reach their 40th birthday, but Song’s been steadily working since she was six years old.
“I’ve been doing this for [nearly] 35 years now,” Song tells The Hollywood Reporter on Zoom Monday morning. Fresh off the release of Running Point season two, the actress seems full of energy despite what must’ve been a busy few weeks.
In the Netflix comedy series, Song plays Ali, the right hand woman to Kate Hudson’s Isla, who at the beginning of the series finds herself leading her family’s business — the pro basketball team, the Los Angeles Waves. Executive produced by Mindy Kaling, Ike Barinholtz and David Stassen, the show was a bit of a dream project for Song, despite not fully buying into that concept.
The actress, who spent much of her youth starring in Disney Channel’s biggest early aughts projects, is a lifelong, diehard basketball fan. She’s since found a love of football, she clarifies, something she credits to her longtime partner and fellow former child actor, Macaulay Culkin. “People don’t realize what a big sports fan he is,” she laments.
When Kobe Bryant, who sparked Song’s love for the Los Angeles Lakers, retired, she had to take time away from basketball because she was so devastated. It’s unsurprising that when she heard about the Netflix series, loosely based on the life of longtime Lakers owner Jeanie Buss, she knew she had to be part of it.
“I literally would have done anything on the show,” she jokes about her reaction to being pitched the series. “I was like, ‘Do you need a PA? Do you need an assistant?’”
Below, the actress digs into her love of sports, Running Point season two and why she feels Disney Channel was ahead of the curve in terms of onscreen representation.
You’re such a fan of basketball. How did you get into it, and how much of that led to you taking this role?
My love for basketball started many, many, many moons ago. My dad and my younger brother are huge Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan fans, so I just grew up with basketball always in my life. My dad would play it in the park. We’d watch it at home, but that was also in Michael Jordan’s heyday. I personally was a Dennis Rodman fan. I loved defense. I loved his hustle. That’s where my love of basketball sort of started, but I didn’t become a Lakers fan until ’96 when Kobe was drafted.
For some reason, I don’t know what it was about him and his playing style that just made me fall in love with it. Then I became a Lakers fan, and we were a divided household for a minute. From ’96 to 2016, I watched basically 82 games a year, whether it be watching it or listening to it on the radio with Stu Lantz and Chick Hearn. I was aware of 82 games. Then when Kobe retired, I was actually so devastated [that] I had to take a break from basketball for a couple of years just because it wasn’t the same for me.
What did you turn to then?
That’s actually how my love of football came to be. Mac and I started dating — people don’t realize what a big sports fan he is. I walked in one morning, and was like “What’s football?” It was a Rams and Seahawks game, and then it was over for me.
But you found that love for basketball again?
I always watched casually, but I didn’t start really watching it religiously again until really the pandemic. Everyone was at home, and sort of this new iteration of the Lakers… It was really hard for me to swallow any newness, especially when it came to the Lakers, because Kobe Bryant was my steady the whole time. Then when this project came about, I remember my agent telling me, “There’s this untitled basketball project by Mindy Kaling.”
A lot of buzzwords for you.
I told my agent I would do anything to be a part of that because I’m also such a huge fan of Mindy Kaling. I’m a huge fan of The Office. Huge fan of The Mindy Project. She’s so talented. I love her writing style. That’s the thing that’s so impressive about what she, Ike and Dave do — you hear Mindy Kaling, and you know exactly what sort of comedy you’re going to get. It’s going to be witty. It’s going to be fast. She pushes the boundaries.
I had my first meeting with them over Zoom, and I think we talked about basketball for a majority of it because Dave and Ike are from Chicago. They love the Chicago Bulls. Dave always says, when he used to get sad, he’d go watch Michael Jordan highlights. I told him I rewatch my favorite Laker games or my favorite Kobe Bryant moments all the time. I was like, “We’re the same.” We just connected on this sort of other level.
What was it about the show?
When they pitched me this show… I knew of Jeanie Buss’s story, being an Angelino. I couldn’t believe that she was willing to have someone sort of make a TV show about her life. I was so thrilled. I literally would have done anything on the show. I was like, “Do you need a PA? Do you need an assistant?” I will do anything because it’s quite literally my dream project to be able to do a show with this group of producers and writers, but also with this cast is such a dream. I’m constantly looking around and being like, “I can’t believe I’m in a scene with Kate Hudson. I can’t believe I’m talking to Justin Thoreau.” It blows my mind. This past season working with Ray Romano, I’m just like, “What is my life?” Little Brenda would never believe her right now.
Your character Ali has this almost “fuck it” moment in season two, where she stands up for herself after not getting a raise. Can you tell me more?
Generally, being a woman in any industry, especially in a male-dominant industry like the sports world, asking for a raise for Ali probably is not a big a deal. She would probably ask Cam for a raise in a second. I think the difficult thing for Ali is the fact that Isla’s now her boss. Her best friend is her boss, and I think she believes in Isla more than Isla believes in herself. She’s her biggest cheerleader. Now, Ali’s in this uncharted territory where Ali feels nervous. She’s unsure. It feels so bizarre and also bizarre for Ali and Isla’s friendship because they’ve been friends for so long. Ali technically had a higher position than Isla for so long. Now, they’re navigating this new aspect of their relationship.
I think it’s really hard, even now, to stand up for yourself, to be like, “You know what? I think I deserve more than that.” I don’t know what it is and what society’s ingrained into us to say that we don’t deserve it, but that’s why I really love that moment. I remember reading it in the table-read about Ali grabbing note cards. That is just such a funny thing because she’s still so Ali, so type A, but unsure how to approach this subject and her standing up for herself. Even though it’s not what she expected, she was trying to do what she thought was right for herself in that moment. I think that’s what’s really important. It’s OK to make mistakes, but I really feel like we, in this day and age, really need to learn to listen to our instincts and know that we deserve more and that we are enough.
What about the relationship between the two women?
The flip side of it is also learning how to appreciate and validate your friendships and being able to show people how you care about them and really understanding what that means. People show love and take love differently. Me and Kate talked about this with Dave, Ike and Mindy, but in my mind, Ali and Isla have never really had any sort of butting of the heads. They’ve always had their dynamic. It’s why they work. They get each other. They love each other. This is the first time that they’ve ever fought in this kind of way. It was really fun. Kate [Hudson] is the best scene partner.
What are you dying to do that you feel you haven’t been able to yet?
I’ve been so incredibly fortunate and grateful for the past few years. I really feel — especially being a new mom and figuring out what that work-life balance is — this was the perfect show to sort of set that off. I had two weeks off after The Last Showgirl and went straight into this, and it was such an amazing progression because that movie was so different. I was also working with an incredible group of women who really inspired me. Then to work with Kate and Mindy and this crew, it has been so wonderful. I just wrapped a Netflix movie called The Fifth Wheel with Nikki Glaser, Fortune Feimster and Kim Kardashian, [it’s] directed by Eva Longoria. That’s the kind of broad comedy that I used to watch and loved so much. To be able to do that was such a dream. We have some amazing cameos in that. [I’m] working with people that I never thought that I’d be in the same room with.
People used to always ask me, “What is your dream role?” I thought about it and said I actually don’t know because it kind of takes the fun out of my job. I have people — actors, filmmakers, directors, producers and writers that I’d love to work with — but one of the things that I love about being an actor is getting a script and figuring out if I can make it believable.
Do you have anything shooting soon?
I’m about to start another film that is a 180 from this. It’s a little indie. I can’t say much about it, but it has a much more serious tone to it. It’s based on the writer-director’s story. I’m really grateful to have this opportunity to really challenge myself and do things that I haven’t had the opportunity to do yet. I feel like it’s so funny because people always say comedy is my thing. Honestly, until The Suite Life, comedy was sort of really scary for me.
I am so excited to be able to spread my wings [with this next project] and do something different, be [seen] in a light that I feel people haven’t seen me in. I haven’t been able to really delve into a character like this before. It’s been really fun, and I’m really excited. I’m nervous, but that’s also where I’m at in my life and career. I want to be challenged. I want to walk on set and be nervous. I’ve been doing this for [nearly] 35 years now. I’m finally getting the opportunities that I only dreamed of, that I never thought that I could have. I’m in a place where I feel like I’m a little bit like a ball of Play-Doh. I am ready to take on whatever’s thrown at me because I feel ready. I feel ready to be challenged.
Have you found you’ve had to work against preconceived notions that people have about you in the casting process?
Of course, and I don’t fault anyone because when you see someone do something, you want to cast them in doing that. I’ve told this story so many times. Especially for me, I think it hit harder when I was doing all the Disney stuff because I felt like I walked into every room with Mickey Mouse ears. People at that time made it feel like that was a knock on me instead of embracing it. When I did The Social Network, I remember asking David Fincher, the director, why he hired me. I’m sure he doesn’t remember ever saying this to me, but he so casually was like, “I didn’t know you were on that show, and if someone hires you on what you’ve done and what you’re not doing in the room, you don’t want to work with them anyway.” It’s probably why I also love to audition so much.
That’s something I wanted to check in with you about. Certainly things have changed even in the last years or so, but like you said, that representation wasn’t there when you were coming up.
The thing is, when you’re in it, you don’t even think about it. When I was younger, I just loved to work. I loved being on a set. I never really thought about anything outside of that. I was so lucky to jump into Disney. I feel like Disney Channel was really ahead of the curve when it came to representation in media very early on. Seeing a young Asian American lead was really important to me. On Disney, they were doing that really years before people were doing it. I mean, Wendy Wu — someone just told me it’s about to be 20 years since that movie came out. That was my first titular character. Being able to talk about heritage and things like that, people weren’t doing that back then.
No, they weren’t.
In the last five to 10 years, it’s been so nice to see people ask questions and speak up, to be able to really make space that all stories need to be told. There’s space for everyone here at the table. People always said that, but it never really felt that way. We’re still not there yet, but I feel like we’re working our way towards that. It’s amazing to see movies and shows being made with actors and actresses of all shades and sizes, all different ages, because media should reflect what the world really looks like. Especially now, having kids, I think it’s so important to really have that representation. It has been a beautiful growth and a beautiful journey. Again, long way to go, but we’re moving in the right direction. To me, that’s all that matters. Progress is important, and as long as we’re progressing and not regressing, I will not complain.
I do agree that Disney Channel really was actually doing things a lot sooner than a lot of other places, honestly, some still aren’t.
No, and people don’t realize. At that young age, it didn’t matter to them. I really loved my time at Disney because of that, and how it really was such a special time that I look back on now. I think I appreciate it, of course, now more than I even did then. But it’s funny to say Disney Channel was ahead of the curve.
Read the full article here
