Brenda Song recently starred in high-profile projects opposite Pamela Anderson and Kate Hudson, has been directed by David Fincher and played a superhero on screen more than once. And yet to this day, when people stop to speak with her, they mostly want to talk about the “The Prindle.” That’s how spoiled heiress London Tipton pronounces PRNDL, the abbreviation seen on a car’s gear shift, in a seminal episode of “The Suite Life of Zack & Cody.” And thanks to that show and to Song, an entire generation now knows the acronym for “Park, Reverse, Neutral, Drive Low Gear.”
Song was reflecting on her career after being presented with Variety’s Virtuoso Award at the Bentonville Film Festival in Arkansas last week and says she’s spent the last 20 years with people bringing up the PRNDL to her. “It’s always the PRNDL and it’s shocking,” Song revealed to a packed crowd at a Q&A following the award presentation. “I didn’t realize how strongly people took to that. People will always be like, ‘You taught me the PRNDL’ or ‘I still use the PRNDL.’”
Song first came to prominence on the popular Disney Channel show in 2005 as a teenager, and she confessed to another secret from the set. Since London was well-known for her fashion sense, Song was asked if she ever stole some of the costumes during her tenure. “A thousand percent!” Song admitted with a laugh. “I have the very first outfit from the pilot, the little pink outfit with the beret. I have quite a few outfits – how could I not?”
Clothing wasn’t the only memorabilia she escaped with; Song also made off with the giant portrait of London and her dog Ivana that was seen in her character’s hotel suite. It lived in her mother’s house for some time, and now Song keeps it somewhere in the home she shares with longtime partner Macaulay Culkin and their children. “I’m afraid to let anyone know where it is though, because knowing a certain somebody, they would hang it up I our house and I would be mortified.”
Song expressed gratitude for breaking into acting at a young age, noting there wasn’t much representation at the time. “That was the tricky thing growing up, being an Asian-American actress in Hollywood,” she said, “Like if you weren’t Jackie Chan or Jet Li — I’m not an Asian man — it was really hard. But I was fortunate to have actors like Ming-Na Wen, Michelle Yeoh and Lucy Liu, who really inspired me.” Song spoke of working with Wen when she about eight years old. “I’m so grateful because she was so encouraging, so kind and just so supportive.”
Song added that she had a lot of great role models on set, pointing to actor Richard Moll, whom she worked with on the Nickelodeon series “100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd.” Being a big fan of “Night Court,” she was excited to meet the actor. “I remember being so star-struck because he was a very, very large man and I was so intimidated,” she noted. “And he was so kind and so gentle. I feel like that was my first kind of long-term project. So that was really special.”
Though many young actors struggle with the transition into more mature roles, Song seemed to make the jump fairly smoothly thanks to a role in David Fincher’s “The Social Network.” It was a role she had to fight for, as she was still appearing on “Suite Life.” She had previously been considered for a role in Clint Eastwood’s film “Gran Torino” and wasn’t allowed to pursue it. “The character had an intended sexual assault scene, so Disney nixed it,” Song explained. “And I was very upset but I was like, ‘Okay, I guess it didn’t work out.’”
There were similar concerns about the content in “The Social Network” but this time, Song went directly to Gary Marsh, the president and COO for Disney branded television at the time. She revealed, “I was just like, ‘I am an actor. When you hired me, I was not a hotel heiress. If I have ever done anything in my personal life to ever draw bad attention to your company, I understand. But this is the last season of the show, and this is the opportunity of a lifetime.’ And I was so fortunate, they were so supportive. They allowed me to do this film that truly changed my life.”
Following her Q&A, Song had to race across town for another event at the festival, “Geena and Friends” in which Oscar winner Geena Davis performs scenes from famous films with the genders swapped. Song performed a scene from “The Producers” with Davis and also played a role in a scene from “Stranger Things,” which featured a cameo from Culkin.
Getty Images for Bentonville Fil
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