Brenda Song is opening up about the struggles she faced at the start of her entertainment career.
While appearing on former co-star Dylan Sprouse’s Wildmenpodcast last week, the Disney Channel alum recalled fainting on the set of The Suite Life of Zack and Codyafter a hot tub heater malfunction. The issue caused the hot tub’s water to heat up to 250 degrees.
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“I just remember breathing heavy, and my chest felt really hot. I just went, ‘Am I having a panic attack?’” she said. “And then all of a sudden I remember stars and gone.”
Although Sprouse said that everyone else in the hot tub had complained about the temperature, Song appeared unbothered and “never made a peep about working conditions.”
However, he noted that she had a “full theatrical” moment after passing out in the hot tub.
“If you didn’t pass out, you wouldn’t have said anything,” Sprouse pointed out. “At the same time, everybody on the set, once you passed out, went, ‘Oh s—t, this is really real.’”
He also jokingly stated, “People can have third-degree burns on them, but unless Brenda passed out, it wasn’t real.”
Elsewhere in the chat, Song spoke about the lack of residuals she receives from Disney, despite her work and dedication. While she had a “lovely time” shooting The Suite Life of Zack and Cody,she also felt the cast was “underpaid and overworked.”
“I look back on it, I was like, ‘Oh, my God, we did actually pay them to work. We basically did,” she said.
Song also stated that those who worked on the hit Disney Channel series should be financially “set” for life.
“We would have seven generations of children that would not have to worry about what they did,” Sprouse said, pointing out how financially secure the cast would be if the show were on a different network.
“We would have seven homes,” Song pointed out.
Despite the lack of residuals, Song noted the hit series helped with her fame. “Disney did give us a platform to be sitting here right now,” she added. “So it’s very hard to complain about certain things.”
