Cole Sprouse is opening up about his experience as a child actor. During a March appearance on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, the 30-year-old actor said he and his twin brother, Dylan Sprouse, were thrust into the acting business as kids by their now-estranged mother, Melanie Wright. Although they starred in huge projects like “Big Daddy” and “Friends” early on in their careers, Cole claimed their mother had spent all their earnings by the time “The Suite Life of Zack & Cody” came around. “My mother was an incredibly wonderful and artistic woman, but she was financially the most irresponsible woman ever,” Cole said.
When Cole and Dylan were 10 years old, their father, Matthew Sprouse, was given sole custody of them. According to Cole, Matthew initially wanted his kids to live “normal” lives. However, following his lengthy (and pricey) custody battle with Melanie, he also allegedly began encouraging his sons to continue acting in order to help the family with their financial situation. Because of this, Cole compared getting cast on Disney to getting a “golden ticket” from Willy Wonka. “It was in many ways a life-saving show,” he said. “It provided us with an amount of stability and consistency and routine that really was needed for my brother and I at the time.”
Still, Cole admitted that he doesn’t “regret” getting into acting. “I know that there’s definitely resentment, there’s definitely some things I have to work through, but no. If I were given the same choice again, I’d probably do it again,” he said.
Dylan is also thankful for the opportunities “The Suite Life” gave him. The actor previously looked back on his time on Disney Channel in celebration of the show’s 15th anniversary in March 2020. “A lot had happened in our lives that was difficult then and this show, in a way, saved us,” Dylan wrote in a since-deleted Instagram (via Us Weekly). “1000 years of gratitude to all involved.” He added: “I’ll keep those memories forever.”
To learn more about the Sprouse family, keep reading for everything we know.