“My last name may be Song, but God is fair — you do not want to hear me sing!” she joked to PEOPLE about turning down the opportunity
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(728x213:730x215):format(webp)/brenda-song-running-point-premiere-2-021425-6f4f832aceb044f695d639b0f4265679.jpg)
Brenda Song is opening up about a big career opportunity she was content to turn down.
In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE at the Los Angeles premiere of her new Netflix comedy series Running Point on Thursday, Feb. 13, the actress, 36, revealed that she was once offered a musical project like many of her fellow former Disney stars.
“But I’m not a singer,” Song says, explaining why she passed on the opportunity. “My last name may be Song, but God is fair — you do not want to hear me sing!”
Jokingly recalling her reaction to the idea of making music, she adds: “I was like, ‘Are you sure about that?’ You haven’t heard me sing!’ I never say never, but I don’t think anybody wants to hear that.”
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(499x0:501x2):format(webp)/COLE-SPROUSE-17907312006-81494ba4190c4688a2006f4f931b6770.jpg)
Song — who began acting at a very young age and went on to appear in several Disney projects including The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior — also took a moment to reflect on her start as a child star, which has led to the busy and fulfilling career she has now.
“Honestly, of course I feel proud. Without any of that, I wouldn’t be here. I worked so hard to be the woman I am today, and it’s because of all of that. So I’m so incredibly proud,” she says.
“I just look back on everything with such a fond smile because it’s such a beautiful time in my life,” Song continues. “And it’s so crazy that I’ve been doing this for so long and I still love it so much.”
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(625x0:627x2):format(webp)/brenda-song-running-point-premiere-1-021425-c5666ea50f874718821b17859b503707.jpg)
Song also told PEOPLE she feels “incredibly grateful” for the work she is doing at the moment and the evolution she’s experienced as both an actress and a woman.
“I have two really beautiful projects that I’m so proud of and then I feel like they’re so different for me,” she says, referring to Running Point and The Last Showgirl. “But it really embodies who I am today and I think for the first time in my life, I feel like I’ve changed so much and I’ve evolved into the woman that I’ve worked so hard to be. Like I feel like finally for the first time, at 36, it’s like this is the new me. It’s almost a reintroduction to the world in a weird way, even though I’ve been here the whole time.”
“I think that’s what it feels like for me, especially with these projects,” Song continues. “I mean, the pedigree and the people that I get to work with feels so unreal. I just feel incredibly grateful that I get to wake up and continuously do what I’ve loved to do my entire life, but doing it with people I admire so much and respect.”
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2):format(webp)/brenda-song-kate-hudson-running-point-2-020725-debb2677ba4742babf74f7b89c034566.jpg)
In Running Point, Song stars alongside Kate Hudson, who plays Isla Gordon, a reformed party girl who is unexpectedly appointed president of the professional basketball team her family owns and has to navigate the challenges of a male-dominated sports industry. Song’s character, Ali Lee, is Isla’s best friend and the team’s chief of staff.