When Brenda Song got her 'big break' as an actress back in 2005, the joyous news was somewhat tainted by woes in her personal life.
After landing a role as loveable airhead London Tipton on Disney Channel's The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, the California-born teen was forced to weigh up whether to continue acting, to go to Harvard to attend university, or to stay home to care for her mother.
Song's mum Mai was diagnosed with breast cancer while the actress was just starting out in the entertainment industry.
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This week, the TV star - who is now a 36-year-old mother-of-two - reflected on the heartache of this period of her life, describing it as a super bittersweet time.
Speaking on the most recent episode of Mythical Kitchen’s Last Meals podcast (4 Mar), she told listeners of her mum's health battle, and how she handled the responsibility of caring for her at such a young age.
"I remember, I found out my mom had breast cancer," Song explained. "And it was just — I mean, cancer is the scariest six-letter word in the dictionary, because it just means, like, death or unknown.
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"Like, you just don’t know. And I think it just didn’t even hit me."
By the time her mother had received her devastating diagnosis, the actress had already appeared in a number of children's 90s and 00s films and television series.
She was 15 when Disney bosses hired her for the hit comedy series The Suite Life - which saw her star alongside twins Dylan and Cole Sprouse, and Ashley Tisdale - and suddenly, her schedule was bustling.
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As we say, to complicate things further, Harvard had issued an acceptance letter to the rising star.
Speaking on the podcast this week, Song - who has since married fellow child star Macauley Culkin - reflected on the three options she had.
"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 continued.
The actress added that it was her father that helped her to make the decision.
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"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 recalled.
"For me it was like, hands down, this is my dream. There’s no way that I can say no to this."
She went on to praise Mai's bravery at this time.
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"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," The Social Network star explained.
"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."
Thankfully, she adds, her family were able to rally around her to support her mother, who subsequently made a full recovery from cancer.
"When I was working with Disney, I worked a lot with families with kids who have been affected by cancer, because of course we wanna focus on whoever’s going through the treatment," Song continued.
"But also, you know, having the conversation with your family and being able to have an open conversation with younger children, because it’s just so confusing and scary.
"And because I had two younger brothers, it was something that I felt very passionate about."
Topics: Celebrity, Disney, Disney Plus, TV And Film, US News, Brenda Song, Cancer
Rhianna Benson