Summary
- Cole Sprouse had a successful acting career from childhood, starring in various projects.
- Roles in “The Suite Life” launched both twins’ careers, but Cole has since diversified.
- Notable projects include “Five Feet Apart,” “Lisa Frankenstein,” and “Riverdale.”
Cole Sprouse began his acting career when he was just 8 months old alongside his twin brother, Dylan, but in the 30 years since, he has starred in some incredible and unique projects. Cole and Dylan Sprouse began appearing in ads when they were just 8 months old (via WIRED), before growing in popularity and landing larger parts. Both boys were frequently cast together to play the same roles, until the pair landed their own show on Disney where they played twin brothers, rather than sharing a role.
Since that time, their careers have diverged and both Cole and Dylan have established their own unique careers with different preferences and roles for each. After concluding their time with Disney, both brothers took a five-year break from acting. Now, both have carved out their niches, and Cole has had great success in projects like Five Feet Apart, Lisa Frankenstein, and Riverdale to name a few of his credits.
How Many Words Cole Sprouse Actually Says In Lisa Frankenstein (& When He Finally Speaks)
Cole Sprouse doesn’t talk much in the horror comedy Lisa Frankenstein, but when he does, it’s a moment that speaks volumes about the story.
10 The Suite Life On Deck
From Hotel to High Seas
For both Dylan and Cole, playing Zack and Cody, respectively, was the part that launched their careers and made them household names. The twins did a great job throughout the original series, but they also got the opportunity to reprise their roles and continue their story in the spin-off series, The Suite Life on Deck. The new series followed the prankster twins as they set sail on a cruise liner, waving goodbye to the Tipton Hotel.
The show also continued to show off much of the boy’s charm and comedy abilities as they entertained themselves on the cruise ship and made friends with other young teens on the boat.
The show ran for almost as long as the original series, and introduced a number of new faces, while also bringing back some familiar characters. The show also continued to show off much of the boy’s charm and comedy abilities as they entertained themselves on the cruise ship and made friends with other young teens on the boat. However, this role was early in Cole’s career, and with his character, Cody Martin, being featured prominently in multiple Disney Channel shows, it risked typecasting Cole as a non-serious, comedy actor, destined for always playing a twin.
Every Upcoming Live-Action Disney Remake In Development
There are over a dozen Disney live-action remakes currently in development. Here’s which movies are coming, when they’ll release, and who’ll star.
9 The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things
Early Start: A Dramatic Turn
The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things is a completely different project, in terms of tone, style, and essentially every aspect. Dylan and Cole once again share a role, but this time, they are playing an 11-year-old version of a character that a third actor is also sharing, as they played the same boy at age seven. The story is based on a novel of the same name, and the subject is incredibly heavy and dark.
Despite their young age, Dylan and Cole settle into the role which takes them down the darkest paths imaginable. Their young mother gives them a life of drug addiction, abuse, and neglect. Dylan and Cole showcase their talents and strengths as actors, with versatility in their performances, but it is not a film for anyone who may be triggered by abuse. This aptitude for playing darker roles, or appearing in movies with more dark themes, has been a part of both Cole and Dylan’s careers as they grew into adulthood.
8 The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody
Double Trouble Begins
Changing gears back to the light and fluffy programming found on Disney Channel, the boy’s breakout show, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody aired from 2005 to 2008. Zack and Cody Martin move into a luxurious hotel with their single mother, who has recently been hired to sing at the hotel. Zack and Cody quickly become a part of the furniture in the hotel, and a source of incredible frustration to the hotel staff, who are frequently forced to deal with their pranks.
Cody is studious and is usually against acting up in the hotel as it could get their mother in trouble.
Cole plays Cody, who is the more intelligent and thoughtful of the two boys. Cody is studious and is usually against acting up in the hotel as it could get their mother in trouble. However, it doesn’t take much to convince him to play along and join Zack in his pranks and practical jokes. Cody is also more shy and tends to take a back seat to his brother, who is more outspoken and extroverted.
Dylan Sprouse’s Best Roles Ranked
Dylan Sprouse is a prolific, popular young actor with a wide range of memorable roles to his name, from The Suite Life’s Zack to Big Daddy’s Julian.
7 Friends
A Sitcom Guest Spot
Friends
Friends is the popular sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, released back in 1994 and ran for ten seasons. The show follows a group of six twentysomethings through their lives in New York City and their time spent between their two apartments and their local coffee shop. The show features the group navigating tricky relationships with one another and comical misadventures.
- Release Date
- September 22, 1994
- Seasons
- 10
- Writers
- David Crane , Marta Kauffman
While The Suite Life of Zack & Cody may have launched both twins on a path to playing unique roles, Cole had already booked a prestigious solo gig several years earlier. On the iconic show Friends, Ross Gellar frequently talks about his son, Ben, who lives with his mother and her new girlfriend. When it came time to have a slightly older child playing Ross’ son in the show, Cole Sprouse was lucky enough to book the show.
In total, Cole only appeared in seven episodes between 2000 and 2002, but he made a lasting impression. His boyish charm and cuteness made Ben a popular character that the audience enjoyed. However, as a more minor background character, his presence was very limited. This role was an important stepping stone for Cole in making a name for himself independent of his brother, although he would not appear in a project without his brother again until 2017 when he played Jughead in Riverdale.
6 Moonshot
Reaching for the Stars
Moonshot
2022’s Moonshot, directed by Chris Winterbauer, follows the story of a young college student who helps a barista sneak aboard a special shuttle destined for Mars. The romantic comedy was written by Max Taxe and stars Cole Sprouse and Lana Condor in the lead roles.
- Director
- Chris Winterbauer
- Release Date
- March 31, 2022
- Cast
- Cole Sprouse , Zach Braff , Lana Condor , Mason Gooding , Emily Rudd
- Runtime
- 104minutes
Moonshot is one of the most lighthearted, fun, and comical films that Cole has appeared in since his time working at Disney. The movie follows Walt (Cole), a barista and college student with dreams of going to Mars and helping to terraform the planet. However, despite his repeated attempts to get a spot through the college and their active recruitment for people to participate in the project, Walt has never been accepted to join the program.
The movie is not ground-breaking, but it is entertaining, and great to see Cole playing a lighter role.
When he meets a young woman in the coffee shop where he works who has a boyfriend currently on Mars, he convinces her to go to the planet and sneak him up with her. The film then plays out like any sci-fi rom-com, with highs and lows and romantic relationships playing out. The movie is not ground-breaking, but it is entertaining, and great to see Cole playing a lighter role.
16 Little Known Secrets About Cole And Dylan Sprouse
The adorable twin actors Cole and Dylan Sprouse have been acting for over two decades now. Life in the spotlight isn’t always easy.
5 I Wish You All The Best
A Touching Tale
I Wish You All The Best is an indie movie that is yet to have a theatrical release, but the movie is proving to be fairly successful in terms of critical response (via THR). The movie is a coming-of-age story about a young non-binary person who comes out to their conservative parents and struggles with the fallout. However, through the breakdown of their relationship with their parents, Ben (Corey Fogelmanis) grows closer to their sister (Alexandra Daddario) who takes them in.
Cole plays Daddario’s husband, who helps Ben to settle into life in their new home, finding work, making friends, and coming to accept themselves despite their parent’s reaction. While the movie has yet to receive a general release, the film has been praised for its genuine nature, the performance of each of the leading actors, including Cole, and exploring a topic that has yet to be properly explored in film.
4 Riverdale
Dark Archie
Riverdale
A darker take on Archie, Betty, Veronica, and their friends from the Archie Comics series, Riverdale is a CW supernatural mystery series that sees the group trying to illuminate the truth surrounding various strange occurrences and murders in the titular town. When a teenage girl is found dead in the once-quiet town, the event starts a series of ever-growing mysteries that ultimately lead to darker secrets in the town’s history. Led by Archie, the Riverdale gang will attempt to navigate their new normal while dealing with all of the drama that comes with being high school teenagers.
- Cast
- Camila Mendes , Marisol Nichols , Ashleigh Murray , Cole Sprouse , Ross Butler , Madelaine Petsch , K.J. Apa , Luke Perry , Lili Reinhart , casey cott
- Release Date
- January 26, 2017
- Seasons
- 7
Riverdale was Cole’s triumphant return to acting after his hiatus and, as the character of Jughead Jones, and the narrator for the incredible teen mystery drama, Cole was firmly back in the limelight. The series is a loose adaptation of the Archie comics, with a much darker tone. Cole appeared in all except one episode of the series, which ran from 2017 to 2023 on The CW.
Jughead is a troubled teen with a challenging home life, who is best friends with the most popular kid in Riverdale, Archie Andrews. However, when tragedy strikes the quiet town, Archie, Jughead, Betty and Veronica uncover a world of secrets that appears to be covered up by everyone in town, including their parents. Jughead is initially a more reserved character who rejects socializing in general and favors writing, which leads him to record and narrate the events of the show.
Riverdale: 10 Memes That Perfectly Sum Up The Show
All is not well in Riverdale, and sometimes, it’s downright confusing, but some memes try to make sense of it all.
3 Big Daddy
Big Screen Debut
Big Daddy
Big Daddy is a 1999 comedy film by director Dennis Dugan. Sonny Koufax (Adam Sandler) has gone the first 32 years of his life avoiding any responsibility. But when his girlfriend dumps him out of the blue and shacks up with an older man, he’s confronted by the need to prove he’s got a plan for life to win her back. As a strike of luck, 5-year-old Julian (Dylan and Cole Sprouse) is dropped off on his doorstep, and to impress her, he pretends to be Julian’s father.
- Director
- Dennis Dugan
- Release Date
- June 25, 1999
- Runtime
- 93 Minutes
The first big role that Cole and Dylan landed remains one of their absolute best.Big Daddy is a 1999 comedy film starring Adam Sandler, as he adopts a young boy to try and impress his girlfriend and convince her of how responsible he is. The boy, Julian, is played by Dylan and Cole, and the chemistry between Sandler and the incredibly talented twins is perfect.
Julian was the perfect role for the boys to play to showcase their winning personality, comedy chops, and ability to perform to a high level even at a young age. Playing opposite Adam Sandler, it also gave the boys a lot of room to explore comedy and make something that was purely and genuinely entertaining. Big Daddy was almost certainly a stepping stone to roles like playing Zack and Cody and helped the boys find their passion within the acting community.
2 Lisa Frankenstein
Modern Monster
Lisa Frankenstein
Lisa Frankenstein is a comedic fantasy-horror film by first-time director Zelda Williams and is a twist on the classic Frankenstein formula. Set in 1989, a high school outcast named Lisa accidentally revives a handsome corpse from the Victorian era and resolves to rebuild him into the perfect man.
- Director
- Zelda Williams
- Release Date
- February 9, 2024
- Writers
- Diablo Cody
- Cast
- Kathryn Newton , Cole Sprouse , Liza Soberano , Henry Eikenberry , Joe Chrest , Carla Gugino
While Cole has become known for roles that showcase his intelligence, one of his best roles to date sees him playing a mostly non-verbal zombie. Lisa Frankenstein is a bizarre dark comedy film that puts a twist on the traditional Frankenstein story. When Lisa (Kathryn Newton) witnesses the brutal death of her mother, she is left scarred and seeks solace in the imagined arms of a charming bust of a long-dead man in her local graveyard.
Cole Sprouse plays the deceased man who is reanimated in a freak storm and becomes The Creature who follows Lisa like a lost puppy. However, the puppy also happens to be a murderous corpse who wants to restore the missing or damaged parts of his body with parts from living victims. The movie is fun, quirky, and twisted, with Cole’s incredible performance delivering an ambitious film and vision by Zelda Williams.
Lisa Frankenstein Cast & Character Guide
Directed by Zelda Williams and written by Diablo Cody, the horror romance comedy Lisa Frankenstein features an exciting cast of young actors.
1 Five Feet Apart
Star-Crossed Teens
Five Feet Apart
- Director
- Justin Baldoni
- Release Date
- March 22, 2019
- Writers
- Tobias Iaconis , Mikki Daughtry
- Cast
- Cole Sprouse , Moises Arias , Gary Weeks , Sue-Lynn Ansari , Claire Forlani , Ariana Guerra , Parminder Nagra , Haley Lu Richardson , Emily Baldoni , Kimberly Hébert Gregory
However, Cole’s best project to date is the incredibly emotional and touching Five Feet Apart. The film follows a young woman, Stella, who suffers from severe Cystic Fibrosis, or CF. Her illness means that her life is lived in a strict routine, with copious amounts of medication, and restrictions all designed to keep her alive, although they do impact her quality of life. Cole plays another young man with CF, who sparks an instant connection with Stella.
The pair evidently have a lot in common, and their lives see them crossing paths often, but they are strictly told to remain a minimum of six feet apart to prevent the spread of infection, which could make their conditions worse and potentially kill them both. The story is deeply moving, with two people forced to live under challenging circumstances finding a way to vastly improve their quality of life, despite the compulsory distance between them. Cole Sprouse brings every bit of his talent to the role and proves that his career is only just beginning.