Brenda Song Said She "Feels Really Lucky" To Call Kat Dennings Her "Real Life Best Friend," And Explained How She, Shay Mitchell, And The Rest Of The Cast Are Just Like Their "Dollface" Characters

If you grew up watching Disney Channel in the early 2000s, it's highly likely you uttered the phrase "Yay me!" on more than one occasion, while rapidly clapping your hands together. That phrase became embedded in pop culture after Brenda Song popularized it on The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, playing the lovable, air-headed heiress London Tipton. Since then, Brenda has gone on to star in tons of popular TV shows and movies, most recently playing the uptight, but endearing Madison Maxwell on Hulu's Dollface. We caught up with Brenda for a trip down memory lane to chat about her Disney Channel debut, her previous cameo on what she says was one of her "favorite TV shows" New Girl, and what we can expect on Season 2 of Dollface.

NOW — Dollface is obviously a show about female empowerment and female friendship. What are some of the ways Madison and Jules’s friendship is similar to you and your real-life best friend?

Well, I feel really lucky because Kat Dennings is actually one of my best friends in real life. That's one of the things that drew me to this show right off the bat was just how relatable the friendships were, because friendships are not perfect. I think it's tricky when you're trying to relay female friendships onscreen because they are tricky. Jules and Madison go through a lot of ups and downs, and I feel like that's what happened for me in my real life and my own best friends. One of my best friends I've known since I was 15, we've been through it all together. This season, there's a character who comes in right when we think our friendship is nice and secure, [she] stirs it up and kind of creates this friend jealousy that Jules and Madison have never had. That has definitely happened in my own life, so seeing how these girls navigate their way through it I think is just really relatable.

THEN — On New Girl, what do you think the show got right about modern dating in your 20s and 30s?

First of all, New Girl was one of my favorite shows, and to be on that was such a dream. I feel like one of the things that our shows have in common is [they're] depicting these people in this very specific time in their life: out of college, but not yet where you're secure in your job and you have a family — you're in this place of like your mid 20s, early 30s, where you're just discovering yourself and figuring out what you want to do. And I think with New Girl it's really fun because obviously you had the dynamics of the guys, and [Dollface] is obviously very female-centric. But I think both those shows, what they did really, was just playing into these scenarios that I feel like were so relatable to everyone at that age, going through that, but making it fun and light — not making your problems feel like it was the end of the world, because I think at that age every problem felt like that was it, your life is over. So being able to find that kind of reprieve in watching these people mess up, and you get to laugh at their mistakes, I think is what made it so much fun.

NOW — Madison panics about turning 30 this season. What was your own 30th birthday like and did you have a similar reaction?

Leading up to my 30th birthday, I had a similar reaction to Madison. I think society really puts a lot of pressure on us to be at a certain place by 30, where we should be in our careers and our relationships. So I think leading up to it there was a lot of anxiety for me to be like, "Oh, my God,' I'm nowhere near where I thought I'd be." And when I was able to let that go was the epitome of my 30s — taking all the pressure off of myself, and being comfortable and happy in my own skin. One of the first steps was [actually] my 30th birthday. Everyone talks about, "Oh, what do you do if you're 30?" "Are you going on a trip?" "Are you having a party?" And I was like, "Am I supposed to do that?" I think that was like my first step into being my adult 30 was like, no, I don't want to do any of that. I'm going to do exactly what I want to do which was have a big dinner with my closest friends and my family. We shut the place down, we ate so much food, there was so much laughter. That's what my 30s have been about is just listening to myself, not putting pressure on myself, and just like enjoying life because life is really precious, as we all know from this past crazy couple of years.

THEN — If London had a 30th birthday, how do you think she would celebrate?

Oh, she would have rented out like an island. You KNOW it. It would be the biggest extravaganza — it wouldn't be like a day, or a week, or a month, it would be a whole year. And also, I don't think she'll ever acknowledge that she's 30. It would be her sweet 16 all over again.

THEN — Which of your Suite Life co-stars was most likely to break character or make you laugh during a scene?

Phil Lewis and Brian Stepanek (Arwin). They are the two of the most — not even just wonderful humans — but so funny. And with improvising they would just go off. It was always so hard. Phil made it an effort TO break us. He loved making us laugh. Since that show was a sitcom, we'd rehearse three days and then shoot two days in front of a live audience, and Phil would save it until we were in front of a live audience. It taught me to really save face in front of a live audience.

NOW – What about which one of your Dollface co-stars is most likely to break character or make you laugh during a scene?

Esther loves to improvise, like Esther will just go off. I mean, she's a stand up comedian, she's so funny. But Kat also always makes me break because she has such impeccable timing, and she makes such unique choices that I'm never expecting them. But also, I can say that about Shay, because Shay will say the craziest things as well. We have a lot of bloopers on our show. We're laughing and giggling all of the time.

THEN — London gave us some iconic lines on Suite Life (like PRNDL). Do you remember a particular London line or scene from the show that you consider iconic?

I mean, obviously the PRNDL — it's funny because at the time, I was learning how to drive. We were very close to our characters age in real life. I remember that car was actually a a stick shift, and I was like, 'Why are there two brakes? I'm confused.' I will say one of my most favorite, most memorable moments was the masquerade episode. That was my first kiss on screen and in real life because I'm a late bloomer! So yeah, that was obviously very memorable.

NOW — Were there any iconic Madison lines from this season of Dollface that stood out to you?

Not one specifically, but I think all of my favorite scenes that we film are with all of the girls together, the four of us, sitting in my apartment or something like that, where we're actually like shoes off, pants unbuttoned, and we're just hanging out. We're probably chatting and laughing until we literally start filming, and I don't know how we got any work done. And those are probably my favorite moments on set. I do feel really lucky to be able to do a show, go to work every single day, do something that I absolutely love doing, and that I'm really proud of with girls that I really love and respect. We have so much fun together. It sounds really cheesy, but I just love hanging out with them.

THEN — On New Girl, your relationship with Winston got a little messy… Were you happy with how they ended things between him and Daisy?

I knew where it was going already, so I wasn't surprised because they had talked me through the arc. But I do like that of course, in the New Girl fashion, [they found] a fun way to get around it — leaving him with a cat. That's what I love about that show is taking something and finding an unconventional way to get it across. It was really fun. Of course, such a bummer, because I'd be love to be on that show forever and ever, and working with Lamorne (Morris) is so great, because he is so funny, and so talented, and so much fun to work with. I had such a great time. So I mean, of course, I'd love it if Daisy and Winston stayed together forever.

NOW — And on Dollface, I was personally surprised by how things ended between Colin and Madison last season. Were you excited for Madison’s potential new love interest this season with another older man?

I think the thing about Madison is that because she's in such a low place, this season is about her breaking old habits. This season is not about Madison dating anyone else, she needs to date herself. She needs to find her own self worth that isn't tied to her job or a guy or her success. And so I think when that comes along, it's a lesson that she has to learn right then and there that she can't just go back to her old life, and replace those people with new ones and that everything is going to be okay.

THEN — You’ve worked with so many incredible stars. Of everyone that guest starred on Suite Life, who were you most excited to work with?

I'll go back to my 17-year-old self — the Jesse McCartney episode was super exciting, because at the time, me and Ashley (Tisdale) were just in complete shock. I remember we had to do a photo with him and she's like, 'We're standing next to him. You're standing on one side, I'm standing on the other.' That was so memorable because he was really sweet, but it was also really a fan-girl moment. For me personally, I'm a big basketball fan and Dwight Howard did a cameo on our show and that was really awesome. Working on a show like that is really great because you get to meet such incredible people. I also love football and Kurt Warner was on our show and I got to like dress him in sequins.

NOW — What about for Dollface? Were there any guest stars you were extremely excited to see on set?

It makes me laugh because he's not a guest star, he's a recurring, but I loved Criminal Minds a whole lot. So when I realized that Matthew Gray Gubler (Wes) was on our show, I freaked out. I was like, 'Oh my god I'm working with Spencer.' I'm dying. But no, I love that show, I love his character, so I totally fangirl, and he's the sweetest, and so funny. But also Malin [Akerman]. Malin is absolutely incredible. She's so talented and I just admire her so much.

THEN — If you could have played any other character on New Girl or Suite Life, who would it be and why?

Oh gosh, that's really hard. It'd be really, really fun to play Arwin's character, because he got to do some crazy, wacky things, and there were no limitations to what he could do. I think that'd be really fun. And I think everyone wanted to be Zooey Deschanel. I think every girl that age wanted to be her, no matter what.

NOW — What about on Dollface?

I'd like to play Malin's character (Celeste). Her character's so fun, because I feel like I actually am Jules in real life. Or to play Shay's character, Stella, because she's so different from who I am, that it'd be so much to just be like, 'I don't care.'

NOW — How similar are you to Madison Maxwell in real life?

Honestly, we all are truly our characters in our friend group. We really are. It's funny because I feel like in your friend group everyone has a different dynamic, and we wanted to all go to dinner after we wrapped and so, very Madison of me, I group texted like, "Okay, guys, what's a good date? We're going here." And then Shay was like, "We're gonna go to this restaurant," Because she knows all the good restaurants, so I made the reservation, and Kat's like, "How far is it from my house? Where is it?" And then Esther's like, "Can I see the menu? I have dietary restrictions." And I was like, "Guys, we are actually our characters."

THEN — How similar are you to London Tipton in real life?

Obviously, I'm not a hotel heiress, but I think she was my fantasy character. For me, especially at that time, I got to play this outlandish character. She has my dream closet, and she didn't have a care in the world, and that was so much fun. I think at that age, being able to have that kind of freedom to like play around with such an outlandish character was so much fun and so liberating. I don't know if we have much in common, but I would say that I got to live out a bunch of fantasies playing London.

THEN — London meant so much to a lot of people growing up. What do you think it was about her character that resonated with so many children?

I think exactly what I said before — she is just a fantasy character that you can just kind of enjoy and laugh at, and you get a peek into this otherworldly world. Like, who didn't want a little London Tipton in their life? At least for me, that's what I would always say. I literally loved stepping into her shoes every single day.

NOW — How similar are you to Madison Maxwell in real life?

I definitely think this season she's much more relatable in the sense that in season one, she laid the groundwork of go-getter Madison who's successful [and] has her life together, and in season two, you see the other side of her. You see a rounded person, because in season two, her whole life like falls apart and she doesn't know how to be vulnerable. She always has a plan, and so for her to not have one you see this other side of her that I think is really fun. Her journey on finding her self-worth, and self-love, and self confidence again I think is so relatable to anyone. I think we've all been in a place where we thought we had everything we wanted or needed, and turned out, it wasn't what we wanted or needed at all, and that it's okay to not be okay. And I think that's what's really relatable about Madison this season is that she's figuring out that her self-worth is not tied to her job and her success.

Special thanks to Brenda Song for chatting with us! You can stream Dollface Season 2 starting Feb. 11 on Hulu.