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Brenda Song was just 7 years old when she made her acting debut in the ABC sitcom Thunder Alley, with the star going on to make several other TV show appearances over the years, and signing a contract with Disney Channel after starring in its original movie The Ultimate Christmas Present.

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However, you probably best know her playing hotel heiress London Tipton in The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, a role that she landed at 16 years old.

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Brenda, now 37, remained on the Disney Channel series for all three seasons, until September 2008, and later reprised London in the Suite Life spin-off The Suite Life on Deck, which aired until 2011.

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And Brenda has now revealed that her ties to the network impacted the rest of her career, with Disney even stopping her from appearing in Clint Eastwood’s 2008 movie Gran Torino because it included a sexual assault scene.

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Brenda would have been around 20 years old at the time, and recalled being “very upset” that she wasn’t able to go for the part. 

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Speaking at the Bentonville Film Festival earlier this week, the actor explained: “The character had an intended sexual assault scene, so Disney nixed it. And I was very upset, but I was like: ‘OK, I guess it didn’t work out.’”

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And while the star allowed Disney to dictate her career choices at this point, she ended up putting her foot down two years later when they tried to stop her from accepting the role of Christy in The Social Network.

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For reference, Christy is Eduardo's love interest in the Oscar-winning movie, and at one point, it is implied that the characters have sex in a public bathroom.

When Disney raised concerns about Brenda taking on the adult role, she ended up going directly to the president and COO of Disney Branded Television at the time, Gary Marsh.

“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,'" Brenda shared. "And I was so fortunate, they were so supportive. They allowed me to do this film that truly changed my life.”

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Brenda's comments come soon after she revealed that her agents dropped her after she committed to The Social Network because she'd already been booked onto another project.

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In a conversation captured by the Wrap, she explained: "There was another project that I had booked when I also booked The Social Network and my agents very much pushed me for the other project. [They're] like: 'It's a lead role, it's a big movie. This is amazing, this is it.'"

"I was like: 'David Fincher is one of my favorite directors of all time,'" Brenda went on. "They're like: 'It's two scenes,' but I'm like: 'This is what I really wanted.' And my agents dropped me over this decision."

After The Social Network, Brenda’s career took on a new lease of life, with appearances on episodes of Scandal, New Girl, and Dollface.

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More recently, she starred in Gia Coppola’s 2024 movie The Last Showgirl, opposite Pamela Anderson and Jamie Lee Curtis, with Brenda crediting her role as showgirl Mary-Anne as a “turning point” in her career.

She told Entertainment Weekly earlier this year: “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.’ And they're like: ‘What are you talking about? You're 35 years old.’ But I was at such a crossroads in my life.”

What do you make of Disney’s impact on Brenda’s career? Let me know in the comments below!

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