Brenda Song.Photo:Craig Sjodin/Disney Channel via Getty; Monica Schipper/Getty
Craig Sjodin/Disney Channel via Getty; Monica Schipper/Getty
Brenda Songis opening up about what it was like having to choose between going to Harvard and taking her role onThe Suite Life of Zack & Cody— all while her mother was in treatment for breast cancer.
In an exclusive preview of Tuesday’s episode of Mythical Kitchen’sLast Mealsprovided to PEOPLE, theRunning Pointstar sits down with host Josh Scherer to discuss the pivotal moment in her life and career.
“I remember, I found out my mom had breast cancer and it was just — I mean, cancer is the scariest six-letter word in the dictionary, because it just means, like, death or unknown,” Song, 36, says. “Like, you just don’t know. And I think it just didn’t even hit me.”
Brenda Song and Ashley Tisdale on ‘The Suite Life of Zack and Cody’ in 2005.WALT DISNEY TELEVISION / Album / Alamy
WALT DISNEY TELEVISION / Album / Alamy
“It was the first time in my life that I was like, ‘Oh, this is a crossroads in my life. Like, this is a big turning point. Whatever choice I make is going to change the course of my life,’ ” she tells Scherer. “My dad, who’s a second grade schoolteacher, was like, ‘You go to college to figure out what you wanna do, and if you want to continue to act, you have a beautiful opportunity to do it, but it can’t be an after-school activity anymore. It has to be your career.’ ”
Song says the decision was an easy one: “For me it was like, hands down, this is my dream. There’s no way that I can say no to this.”
The actress took theSuite Liferole, costarring withCole and Dylan SprouseandAshley Tisdalein the show’s entire three-season run from 2005 to 2008. But it was a “really hard” time for Song’s already close-knit family, drawing them even closer together. “We really leaned on each other all the time,” she recalls.
“I look back and I don’t know how my mom did it, because she got breast cancer in her early 30s, when she was, like, 31,” theLast Showgirlstar says. “And at that time, she’d had a teenager and two young kids and going through all of this. And I don’t know how she was going through this and still my support system.”
Brenda Song at the Feb. 13, 2025, ‘Running Point’ premiere.FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty
FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Song says her mother’s diagnosis also drew her particularly close to her younger brothers and influenced her work with families who were also dealing with the disease.
Song’s full episode ofLast Mealspremieres Tuesday, March 4.
source: people.com
