Cole Sprouse is an American actor and photographer who became a successful child star along with his twin brother, Dylan Sprouse. He is best known for his role as Cody Martin on the Disney Channel series The Suite Life of Zack & Cody (2005-2008) and its spin-off series The Suite Life on Deck (2008-2011).
Who is Cole Sprouse?
The American actor Cole Mitchell Sprouse began starring as Jughead Jones on The CW television series Riverdale in 2017. He appeared in various projects alongside his twin brother Dylan Sprouse. Both became stars in their own right when they portrayed a set of twins for the Disney Channel’s The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. Sprouse suspended his acting career to pursue his studies at New York University. He graduated in 2015.
Early Life
Cole Sprouse was born on August 4, 1992, in Arezzo, Italy, to American parents Melanie Wright and Matthew Sprouse. His twin brother Dylan Sprouse was born 15 minutes earlier than Cole. Sprouse was named after Nat King Cole, a jazz singer and pianist.
Cole’s family moved back to their parents’ native Long Beach, California when the twins were four months old. Sprouse was always interested in earth science since his grandfather was a geologist. So he majored in Geographic Information Sytems in archaeology while in college.
Early Roles: 1993-2012
At the age of eight months, Cole and his twin brother Dylan began acting following a suggestion from their grandmother, Jonie Booth Wright, who was a drama teacher and actress. Cole shared much of his early career with his brother, appearing in commercials, television shows, and films. Some of the popular roles they played together include the characters of Patrick Kelly in the sitcom Grace Under Fire from 1993 to 1998, Julian in the 1999 film Big Daddy, and young Pistachio Disguisey in 2002’s The Master of Disguise.
Cole started appearing in episodes of NBC’s television sitcom Friends in 2001, playing Ross Geller’s son, Ben. This was the first role he did not appear in with his brother. In 2005, Sprouse appeared in the Disney Channel original series, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, playing Cody Martin alongside his brother. He later reprised the role in the show’s 2008 spinoff, The Suite Life on Deck, and its related film.
2016- Present
Sprouse was portrayed as Jughead Jones in The CW’s teen drama series Riverdale on February 9, 2016. The series was based on the characters of Archie Comics. In 2019, he appeared in Five Feet Apart, a romantic drama where he plays a cystic fibrosis patient who falls in love with a girl with the same disease. In 2020, he produced and starred in the eight-episode podcast Borrasca. In 2021, he was cast alongside Lana Condor in Moonshot.
Personal Life
Sprouse briefly worked in the field of archaeology, performing lab work and participating in excavations. He specialized in geographical information systems and satellite imaging. While studying, he performed summer digs in both Asia and Europe. He unearthed a mask of Dionysus on a dig in Bulgaria while engaged in his undergraduate work.
Aside from geology, he had an avid interest in photography. In 2011, he took photography classes at NYU and launched a personal photography website. He landed various shoot assignments for major fashion publications, including W Magazine, The Sunday Times Style, L’Uomo Vogue, and Teen Vogue, among others.
Sprouse was arrested on May 31, 2020, after he joined the protests in Los Angeles for racial justice after the murder of George Floyd.