Brenda Song says Disney Channel was “really ahead of the curve” when it came to on-screen representation, reflecting on how the network gave young Asian American actors leading roles years before diversity became a major industry conversation. The actress recently revisited her Disney career while promoting Season 2 of Running Point, Netflix’s basketball comedy inspired by the world of professional sports ownership.
Brenda Song explains why seeing Asian Americans on television matters
Brenda Song claims that seeing Asian American leads on television was crucial for her during childhood. The actress said, “I think seeing a young Asian American lead was really important to me. They were doing that really years before people were doing it on Disney.”
As mentioned above, Song has always praised Disney Channel for embracing colorblind casting long before other channels did. The actress believes that Disney paid more attention to the personality and skills of actors rather than to their race or ethnicity, and the stereotypes associated with that.
An example of Disney’s willingness to go beyond stereotypes could be seen in Song’s role in the hit comedy The Suite Life of Zack & Cody. Song initially was trying out for Maddie, the gifted schoolgirl who would later be portrayed by Ashley Tisdale. However, Disney decided to cast Song into the role of London Tipton, a spoiled heiress and comedy lead character.
As Song explained in interviews, casting her into London’s role was crucial since the character broke the stereotype about model minorities. In the comedy, Tipton was shown as a chaotic, spoiled, rich, and overacting character.
Disney continued casting Song into the lead roles in various projects. For example, she starred and co-produced Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior. That movie marked her transition from kids’ comedies to action comedy shows, where Asian American leads become more common.
Some time later, Brenda Song starred in Disney Channel animated comedy Amphibia, where she voiced Anne Boonchuy, an Asian American girl. Song says that it was important for the network to feature culture-specific leads while also making them complex characters without any stereotypes.
Apart from Disney, Song stars in the Netflix basketball comedy Running Point. It was created by the team of directors, including Ike Barinholtz, Mindy Kaling, and David Stassen. The second season of the comedy premiered on Netflix on April 23, 2026.
In the show, Song is Ali Lee, the chief of staff of the fictional Los Angeles Waves basketball club. She collaborates closely with Isla Gordon, a club president portrayed by Kate Hudson. Brenda says that she based the character on the famous Lakers executive Linda Rambis.
