Brenda Song calls ‘Suite Life’ costars her ‘second family,’ talks new series ‘Running Point’

For kids of the ‘90s and early aughts, Brenda Song will always be known as London Tipton, the ditzy hotel heiress and Paris Hilton parody, from the Disney Channel sitcom The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.

“I feel like it’ll always be London,” Song tells Entertainment Weekly of her most-recognized role during a conversation about her new comedy series, Running Point. “It goes through phases, but at the end of the day, I feel like I would not be sitting in this chair right now talking to you if it wasn’t for her.”

The character has experienced a resurgence on social media in recent years. Her famous “PRNDL” scene with costar Phill Lewis, who plays father figure Mr. Moseby, continues to make the rounds and elicit laughs. In the scene, Mr. Moseby is attempting to teach London how to drive, but has trouble convincing her that the gear shift letters stand for “Park, Reverse, Neutral, Drive, and Low” and don’t spell the word “PRNDL.”

“That people can enjoy her even 20 years later is exactly the reason why we do what we do,” says Song. “I feel very lucky to be able to portray a character that people keep resonating with even though she’s so outrageous.”

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She’s flabbergasted that PRNDL has endured. “I never thought PRNDL was going to be a thing,” says Song. “It’s so crazy how that’s really stuck.”

Find nostalgic solace in the fact that Song still has close ties to her former costars, including Lewis. “I chatted with Phill not even two weeks ago. He lives in Altadena, so I wanted to make sure that he and his house and his family were okay,” she says, referencing the wildfires that devastated Los Angeles in January. “They are, they’re great. That’s the thing about working on a show like this. When you grow up together, you create bonds that are truly everlasting. I may not see Phill for two years, or the [Sprouse] twins for however long, but when we see one another, there will always be a special bond. I really do have a second family in my Suite Life family.”

Song starred in all three seasons of the show and its spinoff, Suite Life on Deck. She continued to work steadily in the years post-Disney, nabbing memorable roles in David Fincher’s The Social Network and the dramedy Dollface. But it was her recent turn in Gia Coppola’s The Last Showgirl that ushered in what many have hailed “the Brendaissance.” The role, she says, marked a “beautiful turning point” in her career. “I had literally just said to my mom and my partner, ‘If the best of my career’s behind me, I think I’m okay with that. I am really proud of what I’ve done,’” recalls Song. “And they’re like, ‘What are you talking about? You’re 35 years old.’ But I was at such a crossroads in my life.”

Now a mother of two with fiancé and fellow actor Macaulay Culkin, “I felt like such a different person and I didn’t know where I was going to fit in this industry,” she shares. “I have kids now, and I [didn’t] know how to balance that.” But her experience on Coppola’s set awakened her love for the craft; eight days after the movie wrapped, she was at the first table read for Running Point, a sports comedy co-created by Mindy Kaling. Kaling, a mother herself, had emboldened an uncertain Song to “come with us, trust us.” “I was like, I will follow you blindly,” says Song.

Running Point is, by all accounts, a dream job for Song, a massive sports fan. It follows Isla Gordon (Kate Hudson), who suddenly finds herself president of the family business — management of the fictional Los Angeles Waves, a storied basketball team — after a drug scandal forces her older brother (Justin Theroux) into rehab. By Isla’s side is formidable bestie and Waves chief of staff Ali Lee (Song), inspired by Lakers’ exec Linda Rambis. “Ali is the person that I want to be,” says Song. “I want to be no-holds-barred, to have no filter. I want to be able to speak what’s on my mind, to stand up for myself [and] the people I believe in.”

The experience, says Song, reaffirmed the spark she felt on Last Showgirl. “Working with such incredible, supportive, talented people has really re-energized me and reminded me why I love doing what I do so much.”

Running Point is streaming on Netflix.