Interview with Brenda Song

I don't know umber. I'm calling a lof meeting folks today. I am joined by a very very special guest. Brenda Song's career is longer than my.

Dario.

I've dated quite quite the number anyway, Like literally, she's been doing TV for like thirty years something like that.

I was like three four. Oh my, I know, I'm psychotic. There's something wrong with me.

I mean, she's ship out to sum She's London Tipton, the Hotel heiress from the Sweet Life of Zach and Cody.

Are you reading my IMDb or are you reading like a bio?

I'm bringing by all. We wrote by we wrote this, we wrote this out the social network, and a lot of you folks if you're if you're listening to this podcast, you know her as Daisy from New Girl. Please welcome Brenda Song to the show.

Thank you for having me. I'm so excited. I'm so excited.

What were you when I saw you in Serrano? What were you promoting?

I was promoting a movie that's going to come out in January called The Last Show Girl with Pamela Anderson, Jamielee, Curtis, Dave Batista.

Here in a shipka Billy Lord I am.

I literally just I'm in the background holding lights like I am so just to be a part of this project.

It was wonderful. It was so I hadn't seen you in so long. It was so nice to see. It was such a lovely surprise.

Oh my gosh. Yes, that was a fun That was a fun little gathering that we had there. And we're gonna at the Toronto Focast. Well, that was my first time being there. I never yeah, I mean I've been I go to often, but that was my first time at the at the festival.

And you were promoting the Saturday Night Life movie.

Right, yeah, yeah, it's out now. So for all those folks who haven't seen it, you are a fucking asshole. But oh you haven't seen it yourself. You should have made it up. Yeah, you know how the story is.

When do you have time? When do you have time?

To be real? That's true, that's true. I put me and my daughter, we have our date nights here, so her and I just watch pretty much the same movies over and over and over again Saturday. Yeah, I just let her watch what I do exactly.

Imagine.

Oh, your kids are only allowed to watch the things you're in listen you know.

What I mean. I run a tight ship. They got to know with education, get to know your parents. I only do educational work. So let's dive in you. What is what is your New Girl origin story? Like? How did like how did this like? What had you seen the show before or you start watching it or have you watched it? You know?

Uh? What is what is New Girl? What is the World's the world? Here's the thing. I'm sure you guys get this a lot, but the.

Truth is this was the first and the only show that I was a huge fan of, watched the entire first season, was obsessed with. It was my favorite show. And when I got the call, They're like, oh, there's this part that I think would be great for you, but it like literally starts shooting next week. And I was like, I don't care what it is. Yes, yes, yes, yes, Before I even like knew what it was, I was like.

Yes, a thousand percent.

And then I read it and it was such a cooler, was such a fun episode, and I was like, this is the dream. I get to beet in the loft, I get to meet everybody, and this sort of story and this like such a such a different character for me, because obviously I forgot that this show is like we shot this ten years ago, a little over ten years ago, and I remember the time. I was like kind of just coming out out of finishing up like the sweet Life stuff, and it was like very much.

I feel like.

Life imitates art, art imitates life, like this is sort of was where I was in my life. And so when that came to me, I was like, oh my gosh, this is my favorite show. I don't care what I'm doing. Yes, yes, yes, And it was the best it was. I had, like I was so nervous. I remember that first day on said, I was so nervous because I'm like, I am such a geek. I love all of you guys so much. I was like such a creepo fanatic, like I could not wait, and it was so much fun.

I had like such a blast.

I know what it was. I know what made you nervous because you realized in that moment once you saw the scripts that you're going to be working with an Emmy winner, and uh, that freaked you out.

I couldn't I couldn't handle it. Couldn't handle it. They literally said, future Emmy Winner laure and Morris you ready for it and I wasn't.

So when our character is me you you Winston feels okay to go and talk to Daisy because you're wearing an engagement ring. And you know, yes, I've.

Used that trick before. I've used that trick before.

So you've used this trick before, would you? So? Did you find it useful on the dating scene before you met your husband?

You know?

Or did did you use that on your husband's not?

We're a hippa, We're a hipA. You know, we're a hip couple. We're you know, we've got two kids.

I just here's the thing.

We've got to guys are living in Sin. Oh you're living in Sin? I see, we are?

We are, we are living in.

My grandma used to say, oh, y'all shacking up, y'all living in sin How dare you?

But you know what it was?

It actually happened by accident the very first time it happened. We I'm you know me, I don't really go out very much anyway. I usually just go to dinner with my girlfriends.

We like.

That's that's my idea of going out.

And when I was younger, I remember I went out with my girlfriend and her ring was too big and she was like, can you where you have you have? We have the same sized fingers and I was like, oh my god, let me try it on and she's like can you.

I don't want to lose it, so I was like, oh my god, I'll wear your ring.

And I remember this group came over and all this stuff, and I was like, oh wow, I've gotten like no one's interested. Fine, but it was like this weird and all of them like, oh, how long have you been engaged?

And I was like, get.

Wait a second, and and then it kind of like my girlfriends and I were talking about and I'm not gonna lie. There are times where I have a fake like engagement rief. We just want to go out and like don't even want to, Like it's the best excuse and it's terrible, but like it's like, sorry, I'm engaged, don't even want because that's not what we're going out there for.

I know it's terrible, and it's.

Not that it's terrible. I'm just saying you're setting yourself up with danger because there is an entire group out there. I'm not saying I'm in one of these like group chats or anything like that. But there's a tire uh uh brigade of men that only want to date women that are in relationships.

Wait what why?

Yeah, because I don't have to you don't like, you're not gonna stick around, You're gonna you go. You gotta be like I gotta go to but I gotta go home to my husband.

It's one of the things that I remember when I when I read The Nerd for the first time and like our kind of like breakup. I remember reading it and like laughing because Daisy was so unabashedly like, yeah, I'm I'm seeing a guy.

And I respect that because the thing about what is the point of you?

Come on, if you want to, like, if you want to go and mess around, don't be in a relationship if you don't want, you know.

Hold on. It wasn't Daisy. Wasn't Daisy wasn't that upfront about it when she was trying to lie.

She was trying to lie. I mean those did those not look like my shoes a little more? And I feel like I could they were.

We used to always call you big feet, Brenda. I was like, oh, okay when we.

Were rehearsing that we pulled out this shoe and it was so comically like gigantic and also ridiculous.

It was it's it was very fun.

But you know it's funny because of that, because I'll tell you because of that, there have been maybe a couple occasions in my life where if I just start dating someone and like I'm talking like maybe this is our first time, my first time going to her apartment or home or whatever, and I'll see a pair of shoes that clearly are not hers, and it's none of my business. I just got there for the first time, and I have I have flashbacks of that episode of That's Us filming that scene.

That's funny, you know, the gift that keeps on giving Lamar.

But like you said, you know, she cheats, she gaslights, she lies. Is there any defen what's your real defense for Daisy Spain?

My real defense is we were not in a committed relationship. I feel like being in your twenties, you're figuring stuff out. You you're offering to like babysit my cat, Which is really funny because when we filmed that, I was not a cat person, never had a cat, And now I have three, like I'm full baby, and I feel like, you know, she's just kind of like, why she's not putting all.

Her eggs in one basket? You know, I feel it, you know what I mean?

You were things weren't clear, so therefore you know, she's just having a good time until things were clear, because she did say, well, no, I guess we lied because she was seeing someone until we're exclusive.

But that.

I think I recall she was like, no, actually I did's.

Yes, I mean, that's why I just stay single so I don't have to deal with all this this tomfoolery. So I'm did I hear this correctly? You were on Disney but also doing the Social Network? Was that a was that a bit of a conflict there was that? What were or was it fine to just get out and be able to go and do this movie because I hear Disney runs a pretty tight shit, Oh a thousand percent?

It was.

It was pretty crazy because I remember at the.

Time, I you know, we're in a sitcom. You rehearse three days, you you shoot for two days, and we'd been like doing this for a while.

Now. This was like during I.

Believe the last season of the Sweet Life on deck and I got this audition and I was like, there.

They never let me.

They're not gonna let me out to go an audition, and I like read, I was, oh my god, I need this, Like this is you know, fight Club is one of my favorite movies and favorite books. David Fincher is one of my favorite directors of all time. So when I read this, I was like, oh my god, and mind you I'm getting like two pages. Everything is

We were shooting in.

Hollywood at the time, and I went during my lunch break and I went, I auditioned, and then they were like, got a call back, Can you come and read with David Fincher? And I was like like, are you kidding me? The dream and I was able to go. I think it was like then either the next day or one of the days it was again during my lunch break.

It just kind of.

I didn't tell anybody until I booked it, and then they had to approve it, and then they didn't approve it because of, of course the intended bathroom scene. And I was, yeah, I mean, I was heartbroken. And I had to chat with the head of casting and with the head of Disney Channel at the time, and we were like because they were like, we understand this is a great thing, but you just can't do it.

And I was like, I'm an actor. This is the last sea. I am an actor.

This is the last season of a show that I have. We've been doing for seven years. I was like, remember when you first met me? Was I was I a hotel heiress.

I don't remember being an hotel heiress. I was like, I'm an actor.

And I was like, and what have I ever done in my personal life to ever draw any bad attention, bad publicity to your company? Have I misrepresented you guys in any way, shape or form, because if I have, please let me know.

But it's did you have a bulletproof car? Or is that that I make that up?

Oh Dary, how do you remember that.

Lifetime?

It was a different lifetime ago. I was maybe dating a rapper.

Soldier Boy.

But and the thing about it is, and you know, and fortunate enough, they obviously you know, understood and allowed me to do it. They it was funny though, because they had to read the script before they approved it, and they were like, we can't give you the script, so they sent over like the scenes that I was in for them to like sort of see that it wasn't as nefarious as they thought. But thank goodness, because I would have I would have been so heartbroken because.

I think they so they obviously they allowed it, yes, but would you say after we saw how great the movie was, were they like, oh, okay, awesome or was it.

Like no, here's the thing.

I will say this a Disney Channel and everyone there has been nothing but extremely supportive of every aspect. It was the only time that I've ever actually had to even sort of had to like speak up like I'm very very fortunate, like they.

Just I mean, I wouldn't be here without them.

I mean the opportunity, the experience, the work experience, the life experience. It's been absolutely incredible. Like I really don't have much to complain about. It's just the simple fact that this one job is just so heartbreaking. Because I can also understand. But at the time, I was twenty two or twenty three on the last season of.

A show that you know, we we knew.

We were coming to an end, and it was actually pretty crazy because I feel like we wrapped it and I had like less than a week off, and then I started rehearsals on this movie, which was the polar opposite, and it was such a shock to me my system as an actor, as a human. But it was amazing because I think it reinvigorated my passion for acting. Like just to jump from such a different project to work with people who are, you know, just so talented, so

It's really crazy.

Oh yeah, it doesn't. The happy endings don't happen for folks all the time the way it happened for you in this situation. I had a situation years ago. I was I started as an actor in Chicago. I get a job as a TV host for Beet in New York. You know, wasn't my favorite sitting at the moment, I you know, I had to move to New York, and New York was so busy that it gave me a

Yes, literally unrivaled, like two game shows, two different networks.

Yes, And so I you know, so to hear that it worked out for you is great, you know, it just kind of especially nowadays. Lets me it, lets me know that we're in a good space with streaming and all these things that you know you can't you shouldn't really tie performers down necessarily. I understand if it's in direct competition with something, but you know, you have all this talent and all this ability. Imagine we never saw you in that movie, you know, it would be a different conversation.

It's can I tell you? I mean I always say that, like for me, I can only speak of myself and my journey. But it's you know, I think it's just it's about being honest with I don't know. I don't think if I had called and had like an honest conversation with this you know, head of casting and with you know, the president of Disney and just was like really honest about it, I don't think like this would

That's what I'm working on. Like I get it.

But there are just times when it takes something this big or it's like career altering, life altering for me to learn how to stand up for yourself. And I think that's the biggest lesson for me, is like, even if at the end of the day they had said no I can, I can walk away happy knowing that I at least stood up for myself and tried to.

I mean, on my like.

On days where I'm tired or stressed or whatever, it's like, Brenda, this is what you do for a living. You know, you go to work and you literally step into someone else's shoes. You get to like perform and like the artistic for your job.

Chill hours. So yeah, yeah, I mean, like thirty thirty years in this business starting as a child. How how are you so well adjusted? Your outlook is so not jaded whatsoever. You're very positive about it. You know, how do you how do you look at life that way? How do you look at the business that way?

First of all, I think it all comes down to family. Like I think, you know, being a child actor is a very very specific a niche and a very you know, it's not easy learning rejection at such a young age, understanding learning this business at such a young age. I was very fortunate because my family never treated us such. This was an after school activity until I was old enough to sort of take it on as my career.

And I think that's the.

Most important thing was that this was just a job. This was not my life for so very long. It wasn't until The Sweet Life where I got accept into college. My mom got breast cancer for the first time and I booked The Sweet Life all within like a week, and my family sort of sat me down. I was like, Okay, look, you got to the school you wanted to go to, but you go to school to figure out what.

You want to do.

And if acting is what you want to do, you have an incredible opportunity. But if you do, like move forward with that opportunity, it has to become a career. Like mom can't drive you to auditions anymore. You know, she's going through treatment, my dad's working, my brothers are in school. And I think that's when it sort of kind of became, oh, like this is more than just like, oh I get to like, you know, go to work

I like it.

Just I think that was a turning point for me. And the truth is, it's like I think it's just a constant reminder that I get to with all the nose there's so many no's in this industry. I've just learned to celebrate all the yes is, and I've learned to just celebrate all the beautiful things that we get to do, like getting to meet wonderful people, make friends we don't see each other for a decade, and I run into you and I feel like, oh my god, the one I haven't seen you in so long.

There's so much to catch up on.

And I feel like that's constant for us, because we're constantly you know, we work in these little bubbles all the time. You get very very close with people very quickly, and you may never see them again. And it's a very unique kind of lifestyle. And I think for me, it's just life is too short to just see the.

Negative and everything.

I one thousand percent, don't get me wrong, Like I have my negative Nancy days. I'm a thirty six year old Asian American actress in Hollywood that's been doing it since I was three years old. There is you know. I mean I have like heard it all, felt at all, seen it all, like all of There have been so many more nos and so many more disappointments in you know, my career. But I always just say it's a part of my journey.

You know.

If I focus on those, all I can do is learn from them, going Okay, that was not my journey. I have to move on. I mean, there are I've cried over projects. There have been projects where I thought this was mine, this is it. I put my heart and soul into it, and I was like nah, and you're just like what And then I realized it's just the nature of this business. And as with like any job, we're all disposable. You know, we all have our moment

And I think that's sort.

Of just my mentality that every day that I'm on set or even like auditioning putting myself on tape. My reps always think I'm crazy because I love putting myself on tape. But I always say, like, for me, well, growing up, every audition was like I didn't have a lot of them, so every single one was like a job in itself, so I found so much joy and like, you know, getting to like every audition going Okay, what can I do? Because I didn't have a lot of them.

I haven't luck but you know what, my boys are happy, healthy.

I get to like hang out and chat with someone that I haven't seen it a while. Like life is, you know, there's not much to complain about.

I'm very, very, very fortunate.

So it's so funny that you say, you know, you did really like the auditions weren't coming at a high volume. But is it. But apparently you haven't stopped working since you were eight. You haven't had a year, like a full year you were.

Maybe even before that.

I did did commercials for a very long time. I got on my first series when I was nine, and then sort of kept I've been very fortunate just this sort of kept on working the longest time that I took off not working besides the pandemic.

Uh was uh?

After I finished the second season of Dulphase, I went back to work right after seven and a half weeks after I gave birth to my first son. We wrapped the second season, and you know, it was a pandemic, so it was like the longest season of our lives. And six weeks after we wrapped, I found out I was pregnant again.

I had to.

Pregnant these in the same calendar year loan ward.

It was it was insane and and yeah, and so my partner was like, you have to take some time off, and so I took that entire year off.

And it was the most like for me mentally challenging year, not just because of being a new mom and my so many changes my body emotionally, mentally, everything, but also I'm just so like working. I realized it is a huge part of just you know, how I feel like. I like, it's just such a huge part of who I am. And and also it was a huge lesson that year because I realized it was also like how I.

Felt like I earned my love and I earned.

I was like, because we're so used to, you know, working all the time, and it was actually really nice to just not and really focus on me and my family and where I was. And I feel like coming out of that year, I changed, I like realized how much I had changed. I mean I had I mean, I think for the first time in my life, I mean, as you know, being a parent. I didn't know what real responsibility was until the moment I had my kid. I was like, oh yeah, this is responsibility.

This heads up, you have to.

Literally and for me, oh no, this, everything about this little thing depends on me, Like I have to literally feed this child from.

My own body, Like this is crazy.

And and after that year, I kind of went through this like like awakening and I left my managers of twenty six years.

I loved my publicist of.

Over a decade. I kind of just was like, I'm a new person. I need a new perspective on who I am, where I'm at. I feel like being a child actor for so long, I could act feelings and emulate feelings, but I didn't experience them.

And I feel like for me to really.

Get to a place in you know, in a scene or with a role, I have to like have to pull from something real out of myself to make it feel real, to get to that place that.

I need to go, whether it's in comedy or drama.

And I really feel like the last like a few years of my life, and especially since being a mom and the pandemic, really just spending time on me, I feel like I've become such a more well rounded human being, therefore making me a better person, better friend, better partner, better daughter better mother. And that was the one thing for me in this past year that, like, you know, going back to work was huge for me.

And I don't know.

About you, but I realize, you know, the guilt of leaving your kids to go to work is the hardest thing.

And I know we're so.

Lucky because we get to do in a pocket of time and we don't have a nine to five every day. And so I give it to all the moms and dads out there who have to like leave their kids every day.

I don't know how you do it, because I do it for chunks of time and it's so hard. But I realized for.

Me to be the best mom, I have to be the best me, and acting is a huge part of that. My job is a huge part of me being me. So finding that balance has been you know, it's been the journey this past year.

I can tell you what's tough. I got some great advice from someone. I'm not going to say who it was, but famous father. Now I know.

Now I want to know who it is.

I'll tell you, I'll tell you, I'll tell no, no, But she said to me, I told her. I ran into her two days after I after my daughter was born, and she was like. I was at a friend's birthday party and I was like, hey, I had a baby. I had a baby. I'm telling people I had a baby. And she goes, she goes, Can I give you some advice? I said, yeah, she goes. Your daughter doesn't care or won't care about any of those work related goals that

Differently, oh a lot different?

Oh yeah, oh yeah. So one of the things that Hannah talks about, you know, on on this show and about New Girl in particular, is how complex and engaging Liz Meriweather's characters are. I could imagine you had a very similar feeling when reading the Blue Eye Samurai script, right look at Yeah, let's keep you talk about your character a little bit of bad Blue Eye Samurai.

And so the Blue Eye Samurai is one of my most favorite projects that I've worked on because it all happened during the pandemic. So up until then, I hadn't done a lot of voice work. I do a little bits here and there someone asked me to. But it was during the pandemic that I was on a Disney show called Amphibia, and then this audition came through, like literally right in the middle of that, like middle of the pandemic.

I was like, sure, what do I have to lose?

Like, I was like, the beautiful thing about animation is something that I feel like I would normally not get cast in live action. You can do it doesn't matter. You get to do whatever you want an animation. So I went into a kind of just like messing around. I sent them like a couple of like different takes, and I'm I'm I always tell people I'm want one trick Pony what you hear is what you get.

I can't do crazy voice. I can't. That's not me. And if I like, I've tried and it's not me.

So I kind of just messed around and then didn't hear anything, and then I only and then they sent me the script before I had like my like I wouldn't call it a screen test, but like my meeting with like the showrunners and writers, and I was.

Like, this is such a crazy, like like such a crazy detailed story like this. I felt like I was reading a script for a live action show, not for animation, and I was like, this is incredible, and so working on it has been amazing because I only get the scripts weekly, like I don't get them like in advance, and it's and sometimes most of the times I don't get all the scenes, so I don't know what's happening anything outside of.

What I'm doing, which is so hard. But we just started season two and it's been so much fun.

Yeah, it's crazy.

I mean with the animation, you probably won't see the show for their like ten years.

Oh yeah, yeah, I know it.

But it's one of my favorite projects because it is so different and the animation is so beautiful. The cast is absolutely incredible. I feel so fortunate to be part of such a wonderful and talented cast. It's pretty crazy, like I yeah, it's it's one of my favorite projects.

I have so much fun on it.

Ah, very very nice. Before I let you go, I do have to ask. It's the it's a question that has been on fans mindes for probably like the last six years. Afrigat how long we've been off the air now six or seven years. But throughout the pandemic, our show has become even bigger than it was when we were airing, you know, in real time, and the fans want to know that if there were a Newgroer reunion, would you want to come back on the show?

A thousand percent? Are you kidding me? A thousand percent?

Now I'm going to pitch a storyline really quick. Okay, I'm ready because my character is now married so he doesn't cheat, you know what I mean, stop it? And he's married, he's got kids. You come back, but also have a pet cat named ferguson you come back, or there's these sightings of you and and you know, maybe Schmid says, you know, I was on a jog and

Can I tell you?

That is something that would I never understood. I was like, if someone took my cat, do you think I would just have left for the Latin like for the rest of the seasons. I never even tried to get the cat back ever, not once.

Never, never.

I think what it is. I think what it is is.

It's actually like per reason just goes missing and then you find out Daisy had a whole like epic like break in situation to get her cat back after you know, yes, and now she wanted her cat back in the golden days.

Yes. Do you have any pets? Do you have any cats?

I have three cats?

I know, Oh my god.

We two cats and my mom, my mom.

Is with us because we're my mom has a room in her house because we don't have a nanny. We're very lucky. My mom is here with us, and so she has her cat. So we have so technically have to and her cat.

Oh so you.

Heard rubbed off on me?

No, no, you cat before. This character. Once a cat person, always a cat person. You heard it here, folks, Brenda song is a cat lady. Brenda, thank you, thank you for your time. I really appreciate you coming out chat with us. The fans will will truly appreciate this.

No, this was so lovely. I just honestly, this was It was just a nice chat to you more. And it wasn't long enough when we saw each other, so it was nice to kind of chat and reminisce.

Yes, indeed, and next time we chat, I want to hear more about this bulletproof car. Oh, actually, you know.

What I will say. I really do have a bulletproof car again again.

Oh come on, lamar, you stay protected. Oh my god, stay protected. Cars that listen, I so do. I I have a couple of really big cars myself. I don't have that car. I ordered it, but then I canceled the order because it didn't have full self driving. I was like, it does, now it does. I don't want to have three cars.

I'll just you don't need three cars. Okay, this is conversation.

Yes, much love I appreciate it. Peace y'all. We'll be back next week with another fantastic episode of The mess Around