Running Point Star Brenda Song Reveals Macaulay Culkin Easter Egg in Season 2

SPOILER ALERT: This story includes details about Season 2 of “Running Point,†which will be available to stream on Netflix on April 23.

Brenda Song first won over audiences as London Tipton on Disney Channel's “The Suite Life of Zack & Cody,†while her fiancé Macaulay Culkin came up through his own iconic child-star era. Decades after each first captured the world's attention, they're still finding ways to keep audiences hooked, even if one of them isn't technically on screen.

While Culkin made an on-screen cameo in Season 1 of “Running Point,†he found his way into Season 2 a different way entirely. Song spoke to Variety at the Season 2 premiere Wednesday night about a “My Girl†easter egg tucked into the new season: a flashback reveals that Ally (Song) and Isla (Kate Hudson) were once college roommates who couldn't stand each other, eventually bonding over crying together while watching the 1991 tearjerker that starred Culkin. “That was all the writers,†she said. Getting her fiancé's sign-off, however, came down to the wire. “He just signed off on it two days ago. I'm like, ‘Babe, the show's premiering next week. Sign off on it.’â€

As for a full cameo this season, Song had some thoughts. “He pitches himself every season. I love him, but I'm like, ‘Honey, this is my job. Let me live,’†she joked. “We have Ray Romano. We have Octavia Spencer. And not that he's chopped liver, but…â€

Song and Culkin were among the many who turned out to celebrate the April 23 return of “Running Point†on Netflix. Also walking the carpet was Hudson, Drew Tarver, Justin Theroux, Romano, co-creators Mindy Kaling and Ike Barinholtz, and real-life Lakers president Jeanie Buss. Season 2 picks up with Isla Gordon no longer the surprise choice to lead the Los Angeles Waves, but very much the one with a target on her back.

Barinholtz, who joins the cast this season as the Gordon family's “kooky†cousin Bennie, revealed the role wasn'texactly what he had pitched for himself. “I said, ‘Maybe I'll be like a love interest for Kate, three episodes, a dashing businessman she falls in love with,’†he said. “And Mindy was like, ‘Yeah, you're gonna play her cousin, who's the world's biggest loser.'…It is one of the funnier characters I've played. He is almost not a real person.â€

Romano, who joins “the cast this season as a “Running Point†as a basketball savant turned social recluse, claimed one personal highlight from the set: winning a foul-shooting contest among the writers on a break. “I'm a good foul shooter,†he said. “I actually won that one.†However, when asked if fans will be seeing him winning any shooting contests on camera he clarifies, “No, because they want to stay on the air.â€

Buss reflected on the show's unexpected global reach, recalling that she was in Poland watching the Slovenian basketball team play when a local radio station brought up “Running Point.†“It just blew my mind,†she said on the show fictionalizing her life. On the Lakers heading into the playoffs with Luka Doncic and Austin Reeves nursing injuries, she kept things measured. “LeBron James is doing a pretty good job carrying the team,†he said. “He's been fantastic, as always.â€

Luckily for LA Wave fans, Stassen confirmed the writers' room has already begun planning for a potential Season 3. “We want to keep the family dynamics high and intense and full of antagonism,†he said.

As for his other current gig, Barinholtz confirmed that “The Studio†Season 2 is about halfway through production. On his character Sal Saperstein: “He is up to his regular shenanigans, trying to not die and trying to keep Matt Remick in check a little bit.†He also teased a location change. “We went to Venice,†he said. “So if you're a fan of Italy and vistas and views, this season's for you.â€

Kaling also opened up about her upcoming series “Not Suitable for Work,†a show about scrappy, over-ambitious twenty-somethings in New York that hit closer to home than expected. “It was kind of triggering, actually, to go back into my 20s — when your desires are bigger than what you've accomplished,†she said. “I wanted to be married at 24, be a millionaire, be a writer for ‘Saturday Night Live.' None of that came true, and so I carved a different path.â€

She called the cast, which includes “Mean Girls (2024)†breakout Avantika, “so funny,†adding that the actress “is killing it right now.â€

See more photos from the “Running Point†Season 2 premiere below.