What Is Brenda Song's Net Worth?
Brenda Song is an American actress and producer who has a net worth of $8 million. Brenda Song began her career as a model when she was still in elementary school. Brenda played London Tipton on the Disney Channel series "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody" (2005–2008) and "The Suite Life on Deck" (2008–2011), and starred as Madison Maxwell on Hulu's "Dollface" (2019–2022).
Song has more than 80 acting credits to her name, including the films "Leave It to Beaver" (1997), "The Social Network" (2010), "Changeland" (2019), and "Love Accidentally" (2022) and the television series "100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd" (2000–2002), "Phil of the Future" (2004–2005), "Scandal" (2012–2013), "New Girl" (2013), "Dads" (2013–2014), "Pure Genius" (2016–2017), and "Station 19" (2018–2020). Brenda co-produced two episodes of "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody" and the TV movies "Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior" (2006) and "Arwin!" (2007), and she produced the 2022 film "Love Accidentally." She has lent her voice to the films "The Little Engine That Could" (2011), "Cinnamon" (2011), and "Bobbleheads: The Movie" (2020), the television shows "Lilo & Stitch: The Series" (2002), "American Dragon: Jake Long" (2006), "The Emperor's New School" (2007), "Phineas and Ferb" (2009), "Miles from Tomorrowland" (2015), "Amphibia" (2019–2022), and "The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder" (2022), and the TV movies "Costume Party Capers: The Incredibles" (2004) and "Holidaze: The Christmas That Almost Didn't Happen" (2006).
(Photo by Albert Chau/FilmMagic)
Early Life
Brenda Song was born Brenda Julietta Song on March 27, 1988, in Carmichael, California. She comes from a Hmong and Thai family and has two younger brothers, Nathan and Timmy. Brenda's mother is a Thai-American homemaker, and her father is a Hmong schoolteacher. Song began modeling as a child after a modeling school agent spotted her at a mall, and she appeared in Little Caesars and Barbie commercials around the age of 5. When Brenda was 6, she and her mother moved to Los Angeles so Song would have more acting opportunities, and her father and brothers joined them two years later. During her youth, Brenda wanted to take ballet lessons, but one of her brothers wanted to learn taekwondo, and since their mother didn't want to take them to two different places, both children took taekwondo. Song cried during her first class, but she ended up eventually earning a black belt. As a high school freshman, Brenda was named an All-American Scholar. She was homeschooled due to her acting career, and she finished high school at just 16 years old. Song later majored in psychology and minored in business at the University of California, Berkeley, graduating in 2009.
Career
In the early days of her acting career, Brenda guest-starred on "Thunder Alley" (1994–1995), "Fudge" (1995), "Once and Again" (1999), "MADtv" (1999), and "Popular" (1999) and appeared in the short films "Requiem" (1995) and "The White Fox" (1997) and the feature films "Santa with Muscles" (1996) and "Leave It to Beaver" (1997). From 2000 to 2002, she played Sariffa Chung on Nickelodeon's "100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd," and in the early 2000s, she guest-starred on "7th Heaven" (2000), "The Brothers García" (2000), "Bette" (2001), "ER" (2001), "Judging Amy" (2001), "The Bernie Mac Show" (2002), "The Nightmare Room" (2002), "George Lopez" (2002), and "That's So Raven" (2003). Song appeared in the film "Like Mike" (2002) and the Disney Channel Original Movies "The Ultimate Christmas Present" (2000), "Get a Clue" (2002), and "Stuck in the Suburbs" (2004), and from 2004 to 2005, she had a recurring role as Tia on the Disney Channel series "Phil of the Future." In 2005, she began playing London Tipton on "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody" alongside Cole and Dylan Sprouse. The series aired 87 episodes over three seasons, and Brenda reprised her role in "The Suite Life on Deck" (2008–2011) and "The Suite Life Movie" (2011) as well as episodes of "Wizards of Waverly Place" (2009) and "Hannah Montana" (2009).
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Song starred in the title role in the 2006 Disney Channel Original Movie "Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior," then she appeared in the films "College Road Trip" (2008) and "Boogie Town" (2009) and the TV movies "Macy's Presents Little Spirit: Christmas in New York" (2008) and "Special Delivery" (2008). She played Christy Lee in the 2010 film "The Social Network," which earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture and won a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture – Drama. Brenda then appeared in the feature film "Little Sister" (2010) and the short film "First Kiss" (2012) and guest-starred on "Key & Peele" (2012), "The League" (2014), "Life in Pieces" (2016), and "Superstore" (2017). She had recurring roles as Alissa on "Scandal" (2012–2013), Daisy on "New Girl" (2013), and JJ on "Station 19" (2018–2020), and she played Veronica on Fox's "Dads" (2013–2014) and Angie Cheng on the CBS medical drama "Pure Genius" (2016–2017). Song starred in the 2017 Freeform movie "Angry Angel," and in 2019, she appeared in the films "Changeland" and "Secret Obsession" and began playing Madison Maxwell on "Dollface." In 2022, she produced and starred in the Amazon Freevee movie "Love Accidentally" and voiced Kaitlyn Ka in the interactive horror videogame "The Quarry."
Personal Life
Brenda dated musician Trace Cyrus (the son of Billy Ray Cyrus) from 2010 to 2017, and they became engaged in 2011. After splitting from Cyrus, Song began a relationship with her "Changeland" co-star Macaulay Culkin in 2017, and they welcomed son Dakota on April 5, 2021. The couple named their son after Macaulay's sister Dakota, who died in 2008 after being hit by a car.
In 2008, an escort agency used a photo of Song in an ad featured in "LA Weekly," and she sued the company for libel, stating, "As a role model to millions of young people, I feel I have to take a stand against this company in regard to its exploitation of my image." In the lawsuit, Brenda sought more than $100,000 for "libel, intentional infliction of emotional distress and commercial misappropriation of her photo and likeness," and in early 2009, defendant Vanessa Sena was ordered to pay Song $16,000.
Awards and Nominations
In 2006, Brenda won two Young Hollywood Awards for "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody," Superstar of Tomorrow and Best Role Model. The show also earned her a Kids' Choice Award (Australia) nomination for Favorite Television Star (2008) and a Kids' Choice Award (U.S.) nomination for Favorite TV Sidekick (2011). She won a Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Movie (Comedy) – Supporting Young Actress for "The Ultimate Christmas Present" in 2001 and received a nomination for Best Performance in a TV Comedy Series – Guest Starring Young Actress for "The Bernie Mac Show" in 2003. Song and her "The Social Network" co-stars earned Best Ensemble awards from the Hollywood Film Awards, Palm Springs International Film Festival, and Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards and nominations from the Central Ohio Film Critics Association, Gold Derby Awards, San Diego Film Critics Society Awards, and Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Awards.
Real Estate
In August 2022, Song and Culkin paid $8 million for Kiefer Sutherland's home in the Toluca Lake area of Los Angeles. Built in 1935, the 4,879 square foot home includes five bedrooms and six bathrooms, and the .6-acre property features a swimming pool, a putting green, and a terrace with a fireplace and pergola.
