We loved watching their hilarious antics in "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody," but life
off-camera for Cole and Dylan Sprouse wasn't always so sweet. From their birth to their 30s,
this is the tragic journey of the Disney Channel's most iconic pair of twins.
Cole Sprouse gave two unprecedented interviews in March 2023, in which the typically private
star peeled back the curtain on his and his brother's unconventional upbringing. During
conversations on the "Call Her Daddy" and "The Diary of a CEO" podcasts, he was forthcoming
about how he and his twin brother started acting before they could form memories. Cole and Dylan
Sprouse made their acting debut at just eight months old, when they were featured in diaper
commercials. It wasn't exactly a choice at that age, considering that they couldn't even talk.
So, how did their acting career start? Cole admitted —
"My mother needed an income. [...] I think there's two types of kids within the child
acting business. There's, like, the thespian children who choose to do it and then there's
the working-class kids. [...] It started, really, as a means to put bread on the table."
Sprouse reiterated this point to Steve Bartlett on "The Diary of a CEO." He
said that there was definitely financial pressure to perform,
and it felt like their mother was living vicariously through their careers. He added
that he looks back on his career with mixed emotions, but ultimately feels grateful for
the level of financial security he was able to achieve by age 30. However, the twins were
only able to get to that point by sacrificing any chance they had for normal childhoods.
"I'm not normal. I'm not wired to be normal."
A number of child stars grow up to develop drug problems, get involved in controversy,
and otherwise go off the rails, but a few make it to the other side relatively
well-adjusted. It might appear that the Sprouse twins are in the latter camp,
but Cole will be the first person to tell you that it's not quite that
simple. He told The New York Times that fame itself has been traumatic, saying —
"When we talk about child stars going nuts, what we’re not actually talking about is how
fame is a trauma. So I’m violently defensive against people who mock some of the young
women who were on [Disney] channel when I was younger because I don’t feel like it
adequately comprehends the humanity of that experience and what it takes to recover."
The twins were able to take time to recover when they attended university,
but Cole noted that the effects of fame never really go away. He elaborated —
"To be quite honest, as I have now gone through a second big round of this fame game as an adult,
I've noticed the same psychological effects that fame yields upon a group of young adults as I did
when I was a child. I just think people have an easier time hiding it when they're older."
Cole and Dylan Sprouse were born while their parents, Melanie Wright and Matthew Sprouse,
were working abroad in Tuscany, Italy. Not long after, the family of four moved to Switzerland
before Wright brought the kids back to L.A. on her own. Although the couple tried to make
things work, it didn't last — and by the time the twins were five, their parents were divorced.
"Were they ready to be parents, and ready for two newborns?"
"No no no, my father got a vasectomy immediately after he found out he was having twins."
"Kay. Kay."
They primarily lived with their mother for a time, until the court stepped in to award their
dad full custody while deeming Wright "unfit." By this time, all the money that Cole and Dylan had
made from "Big Daddy" and "Friends" was gone because of Wright's mismanagement.
To this day, Cole Sprouse has a good relationship with his father — but the
same can't be said of his mom, with whom he has had very little contact
ever since. He elaborated on this on "The Diary of a CEO," saying —
"I see a person that grapples with mental illness, drug abuse, but primarily narcissism.
A wicked narcissism. [...] And that just doesn't work with being a mother."
Cole and Dylan Sprouse have had a difficult relationship with their mom for as long as
they can remember. While they've mostly stayed quiet about it, Wright has continued to post on
Instagram about her sons, claiming to be parenting from afar because they cut her
off. However, the situation is definitely not that black and white. Cole explained —
"In truth, she lost her mind. I think it was the consequence of some weird alchemy of
addiction and mental instability, and it's probably the greatest wound in my life."
Despite this, he still feels a very strong connection to both his parents,
which is something he will always struggle to reconcile with. He admitted that he missed the
woman his mother once was, and part of the reason he continues to act is to fulfill her
vision for him. Sadly, their relationship is non-existent now. Cole revealed —
"Every once in a while she'll reach out to me, some weird hieroglyphic text [...] that I try
to decipher and pinpoint where she is, but we have a very, very challenged relationship."
Cole and Dylan Sprouse had been through a lot by the time they
turned 18 — so when their time on the Disney Channel came to an end in 2011,
they needed a break. They stopped sending out audition tapes and started sending out
applications instead: college applications, that is. The twins ended up attending NYU,
with Cole studying archaeology and Dylan majoring in video game design.
"As Moltak, I'm learning valuable skills like blacksmithing, alchemy, and jewel enchanting."
After they graduated, Cole told E! News that taking a break from
the industry is absolutely essential for child stars. In the twins' case,
it allowed them to return to entertainment on their own terms. Cole told Steve Bartlett that
he was keen to take on roles that he considered creatively fulfilling, even if they didn't pay
as much as he was used to. Of course, he eventually struck gold with "Riverdale."
Meanwhile, Dylan expressed the desire to challenge himself with projects completely
different from anything he'd done before. He has since taken on a series of voice
roles and now fronts the "Beautiful Disaster" film franchise alongside Marvel star Virginia Gardner.
The Sprouse twins faced intense media scrutiny growing up under the Disney Channel spotlight.
It became a bigger issue for them as they entered their later teen years and started dating more.
Even when they tried to do so privately, the media always had a way of finding out.
While speaking on "Call Her Daddy," Cole
revealed the criticism he personally struggled with the most, admitting —
"There's this wholesome imagery that follows you around and as I have aged
and come into my own advanced adult feelings of sexuality, [...] there's
a bit of a fall from grace that occurs with that."
As a self-proclaimed people-pleaser, Cole has been open about how media scrutiny and criticism
have been difficult for him to deal with. He told The New York Times that when he resumed acting,
it was because it's very much a great love and passion in his life — but he
noted that he still struggles with all the fame that comes with it.
Dylan was further out of the spotlight than his brother, and he even worked in a coffee shop as
a break from the entertainment industry. But no matter what he was doing he faced
intense media scrutiny, and he recalls being laughed at for his down-to-earth
job choice. Like his brother though, acting is his passion. Despite his extended break,
Dylan told Teen Vogue that taking some time off only reignited his desire to act.
Cole Sprouse and Lili Reinhart thrilled "Riverdale" fans when they confirmed that
Betty and Jughead were going steady in real life. The co-stars dated from 2017 to 2019, which was
from the early days of the show until around Season 4. They didn't publicly announce their
breakup right away, and Sprouse admitted on "Call Her Daddy" that he was later photographed dating
other women. The rumors and gossip that circulated afterward weren't great for his mental health.
While many saw them as the perfect couple,
Sprouse admitted their relationship ended on a difficult note. He explained —
"We both did quite a bit of damage to each other."
The ending of their relationship was apparently mutual, but Cole
noted that he was really the one who left in the end. Speaking candidly, he added —
"I think if I had loved myself a little more, I probably would have left a little earlier,
but I just felt like I had to take care of a lot of people around me, which was not good for me."
Continuing to work together after a breakup wasn't easy,
as they weren't exactly able to get the space they needed to process and move on. Fortunately,
the two moved through it and found their way back to friendship.
They don't work together anymore
If you've watched "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody," you know how dynamic
the Sprouse twins can be when they work together. Unfortunately for their fans,
their time on screen together came to a screeching halt in the early 2010s after "The
Suite Life Movie" in 2011 and a brief appearance as themselves on "So Random!" the following year.
Continuing to break the hearts of Disney Channel fans, Cole confirmed to The New
York Times that there's definitely no "Suite Life" reunion on the horizon,
even with the current popularity of reboots. To add insult to injury, Dylan later told
Us Weekly that they'll probably never act together again in anything. His reasoning:
"Twin movies are never good! That's just the
universal truth I think the universe has given to us."
However, he backtracked slightly, saying that he wouldn't be opposed
to writing something specifically for the two of them to act in. He teased —
"It's more likely that I will write something for us to work in together,
rather than someone approach us."
In the meantime, the two continue to go through life together off-screen. They remain as close
as ever, with Cole serving as the best man at Dylan's wedding to Barbara Palvin in July 2023.
"You know… we make a pretty good team."