‘Running Point’ star Brenda Song.

Emily Sandifer

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If there’s one thing Brenda Song knows, it’s acting. Well, that and basketball. She definitely knows basketball.

The 38-year-old Running Point star is a seasoned veteran onscreen. It sounds like a ridiculous thing to say about an actor yet to reach their 40th birthday, but Song’s been steadily working since she was six years old.

“I’ve been doing this for [nearly] 35 years now,” Song tells The Hollywood Reporter on Zoom Monday morning. Fresh off the release of Running Point season two, the actress seems full of energy despite what must’ve been a busy few weeks.

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In the Netflix comedy series, Song plays Ali, the right hand woman to Kate Hudson’s Isla, who at the beginning of the series finds herself leading her family’s business — the pro basketball team, the Los Angeles Waves. Executive produced by Mindy Kaling, Ike Barinholtz and David Stassen, the show was a bit of a dream project for Song, despite not fully buying into that concept.

The actress, who spent much of her youth starring in Disney Channel’s biggest early aughts projects, is a lifelong, diehard basketball fan. She’s since found a love of football, she clarifies, something she credits to her longtime partner and fellow former child actor, Macaulay Culkin. “People don’t realize what a big sports fan he is,” she laments.

When Kobe Bryant, who sparked Song’s love for the Los Angeles Lakers, retired, she had to take time away from basketball because she was so devastated. It’s unsurprising that when she heard about the Netflix series, loosely based on the life of longtime Lakers owner Jeanie Buss, she knew she had to be part of it.

“I literally would have done anything on the show,” she jokes about her reaction to being pitched the series. “I was like, ‘Do you need a PA? Do you need an assistant?’”

Below, the actress digs into her love of sports, Running Point season two and why she feels Disney Channel was ahead of the curve in terms of onscreen representation.

You’re such a fan of basketball. How did you get into it, and how much of that led to you taking this role?

My love for basketball started many, many, many moons ago. My dad and my younger brother are huge Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan fans, so I just grew up with basketball always in my life. My dad would play it in the park. We’d watch it at home, but that was also in Michael Jordan’s heyday. I personally was a Dennis Rodman fan. I loved defense. I loved his hustle. That’s where my love of basketball sort of started, but I didn’t become a Lakers fan until ’96 when Kobe was drafted.

For some reason, I don’t know what it was about him and his playing style that just made me fall in love with it. Then I became a Lakers fan, and we were a divided household for a minute. From ’96 to 2016, I watched basically 82 games a year, whether it be watching it or listening to it on the radio with Stu Lantz and Chick Hearn. I was aware of 82 games. Then when Kobe retired, I was actually so devastated [that] I had to take a break from basketball for a couple of years just because it wasn’t the same for me.

Brenda Song as Ali in ‘Running Point’ Season two.

Katrina Marcinowski/Netflix

What did you turn to then?

That’s actually how my love of football came to be. Mac and I started dating — people don’t realize what a big sports fan he is. I walked in one morning, and was like “What’s football?” It was a Rams and Seahawks game, and then it was over for me.

But you found that love for basketball again?

I always watched casually, but I didn’t start really watching it religiously again until really the pandemic. Everyone was at home, and sort of this new iteration of the Lakers… It was really hard for me to swallow any newness, especially when it came to the Lakers, because Kobe Bryant was my steady the whole time. Then when this project came about, I remember my agent telling me, “There’s this untitled basketball project by Mindy Kaling.”

A lot of buzzwords for you.

I told my agent I would do anything to be a part of that because I’m also such a huge fan of Mindy Kaling. I’m a huge fan of The Office. Huge fan of The Mindy Project. She’s so talented. I love her writing style. That’s the thing that’s so impressive about what she, Ike and Dave do — you hear Mindy Kaling, and you know exactly what sort of comedy you’re going to get. It’s going to

Brenda Song on Running Point Season 2, Challenging Herself, Disney Days