Brenda Song – Money Talks

Q.  Can you tell us a bit about the show “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody” and your character London?

A.  These two twins boys who move into this hotel, a very classy and rich hotel, because their mom is lounge singer and part of her deal is that they get a suite to live in.  Everybody’s wondered what it is like to live in a hotel!  So, this kind of gives you an over exaggerated version of what would happen if certain things would happen in a hotel, like if the circus came into town or something like that.  There is a whole cast of characters in the hotel, there is Mr. Moseby who is the hotel manager, who kind of wrangles the boys around all the time.  Then there is Maddie who is a part time babysitter and then you have my character who is London Tipton, her daddy owns the hotel.  She’s very much like Paris Hilton in a sense, my character lives in her own little world, her own reality, anything outside of that just doesn’t exist to her.  Nobody ever told her that it is wrong to do these things, her parents aren’t around and Mr. Moseby is kind of like her surrogate father.  London is very materialistic and all these things and as the show progresses the boys and everyone start to learn from one another, she learns a major lesson that money doesn’t buy happiness. 

Q.  What attracted you to this project?

A.  Definitely the Sprouse twins, they’re so adorable, but I think the whole concept of it really got me.  Myself, when we were traveling and staying at a hotel I always thought, “oh, I wonder what it would be like to live here, to have a maid all the time, to have room service twenty four seven.”  So, I think that the basic concept just kind of reeled me in.  It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do.

Q.  What is it like getting to work with such a diverse cast?

A.  It’s become such a family, you know the boys are twelve, Ashley is sixteen, I’m nineteen, it’s all these different ages, all these different things we’re going through at our points in life.  We’re among teenagers, here I am getting my drivers license, Ashley who has finished high school and she’s starting her own life, we’re all at really different stages in our life. 

Q.  London is said to be spoiled, yet in your bio it says that you’re a self proclaimed “total dork.”  Is it fun to play someone so opposite of you?

A.  No it’s really funny because I think that the only thing that London and I have in common is probably our shopping habits, girly things.  She’s basically my alter ego, so it’s really fun to like go to work and be someone who I am so completely not and just get to play with it.  You look at Paris Hilton and you look at all these other celebrities and you’re like, “I wanna be like them!”  Playing London is kind of me having fun and putting on my alter ego, it’s crazy cuz I get to do a lot of things that I would not normally do.

Q.  You’ve worked on several Disney shows, what make working for Disney so appealing?

A.  With Disney Channel, I go to work everyday and I’m never worried about having to do something that I don’t feel comfortable with.  I can do something that I am proud to show my little cousins who are five to twelve.  My brother’s can watch it, my whole family can watch it, I don’t have to worry about anything, I feel really safe and they’ve been so good to me.

Q.  Do you have a most memorable moment from filming “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody”?

A.  I think that the most memorable moments are definitely the ones off set like when we play four square on the back lot, when we play hide and seek.  I think those are the best moments that we have off the set just because those are memories I’ll have forever. 

Q.  You’ve done work on both the big and small screen, do you prefer one or the other?

A.  No, it’s not even big screen, small screen.  Every job that I do is different, it brings on new experiences, new people and new characters.  I don’t have a preference because they’re both so different and they’re both different ways of expressing myself.  The big is so magnified and on TV you are kind of able to be a little bit crazy and bigger, they’re both fun and I love them both, they keep me well rounded.

Q.  You’ve gotten to work with Lindsay Lohan, Bow Wow and many others.  Anyone that you’d really love to work with?

A.  You know I look up to so many different people, and different actresses and my favorite actresses are Angelina Jolie and Nicole Kidman.  If I ever had a chance to get near them it’d be crazy but you know I always say whatever happens, happens.  I am so blessed with working with all these wonderful people, as long as I keep working I’m happy.

Q.  What has been your favorite project that you’ve worked on?

A.  I can’t say I have one favorite project, every project that I do there is always something favorite about it.  There is always these memories that you have from each one and they are each my favorite in their own sense.  When I worked on Like Mike, it was weird because I was the only girl out of five guys for three months and I was so afraid.  Then I worked on Get A Clue and that was awesome, we were shopping all the time and it was just Lindsay and I.  Each project has it’s own perk and I’ve been working on Suite Life of Zack and Cody for like six months and they’ve become my family, I can turn to them for problems and things.  So, I can’t say that one is my favorite project.

Q.  Is there anything that you’d like to say to fans and supporters of your career?

A.  Thank you for everything, I didn’t know I had fans or supporters seriously.  Reach for the moon even if all you get is the stars, anything is possible, especially coming from me a little girl who just wanted to be on TV, and now I’m working on a Disney show.  So, just thank you for everything, keep reaching for your dreams!