Cole Sprouse


Cole Mitchell Sprouse is an American actor. He is known for his role as Cody Martin on the Disney Channel series The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, and its spin-off series The Suite Life on Deck, and his role as Jughead Jones on The CW television series Riverdale. In his early career, Sprouse appeared in various projects with his twin brother Dylan Sprouse, including The Suite Life and Big Daddy.
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Early life

Cole Mitchell Sprouse was born in Arezzo, Italy, to American parents, Matthew Sprouse and Melanie Wright. He was born 15 minutes after his twin brother Dylan Sprouse and was named after jazz singer and pianist Nat King Cole. When the twins were four months old, the family moved back to their parents' native Long Beach, California.
In college, Sprouse majored in Geographic Information Systems in archaeology. He was inspired by his grandfather, a geologist, and also by his interest in earth science.

Career

1993–2012: Early roles as child actor

Cole and his brother, Dylan, began acting at the age of eight months following a suggestion from their grandmother, Jonine Booth Wright, who was a drama teacher and actress. Much of Sprouse's early career was shared with his brother—some of their earliest roles were shared roles as one baby or child in commercials, television shows, and films. Due to child labor laws in California restricting the amount of time children can be filmed in a day, casting twins in a single role allows more time for one character to be filmed.
Some notable roles he shared with his brother 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. In 2001, Cole began appearing in episodes of NBC's television sitcom Friends, as Ross Geller's son, Ben; this role was his first role in which he did not appear with his brother. As he and his brother grew older, they began taking on more roles as separate characters but often still worked on the same projects. Their first role as separate characters in the same production was as kids in a MADtv sketch. Sprouse portrayed Cody Martin in the 2005 Disney Channel original series, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody alongside his brother; he reprised the role in the show's 2008 spinoff, The Suite Life on Deck and its related film.

2016–present: Post-university return to acting

On February 9, 2016, Sprouse was cast as Jughead Jones in The CW's teen drama series Riverdale, based on the characters of Archie Comics. The series premiered on January 26, 2017. In 2019, Sprouse starred in Five Feet Apart, a romantic drama which was released in March; he plays a cystic fibrosis patient who falls in love with a girl with the same disease. It was his second lead role in a major theatrical film, 20 years after his first, Big Daddy. Sprouse produced and starred in the eight-episode podcast Borrasca in 2020. The series received a second seven-episode season that was published from September to November 2022. In 2021, he was cast in Moonshot alongside Lana Condor.

Personal life

Sprouse is a fan of comics and worked at the Los Angeles comic store Meltdown.
Sprouse has opened up about the dysfunctional relationship he and his brother have with their mother, claiming that the justice system had to intervene in their adolescence and give their father full custody due to her lacking the mental stability to be a parent. He has said that the entertainment industry appealed to his mother's drug addiction and narcissistic behavior, and "in very many ways encourages the worst qualities of you as a person... It's one of those things that encouraged a kind of selfishness directly opposed to the very fundamental idea of motherhood."
Sprouse began attending New York University in 2011, after deferring one year. Initially interested in studying film and television production, he decided to enroll instead in the Gallatin School of Individualized Study, pursuing the humanities and in particular archaeology. He graduated alongside his brother in May 2015. Sprouse worked briefly in the field of archaeology, participating in excavations and performing lab work. He specialized in geographical information systems and satellite imaging. During his studies he performed summer digs in both Europe and Asia. While engaged in his undergraduate work, he unearthed a mask of Dionysus on a dig in Bulgaria.
Sprouse has an avid interest in photography. In 2011, he launched a personal photography website and took classes at NYU. He has shot assignments for major fashion publications including Teen Vogue, L'Uomo Vogue, The Sunday Times Style, and W Magazine, among others.
Sprouse was in a relationship with his Riverdale co-star Lili Reinhart from 2018 to March 2020.
On May 31, 2020, Sprouse was arrested after he joined the protests in Los Angeles for racial justice after the murder of George Floyd.

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1999Big DaddyJulian McGrath
1999The Astronaut's WifeTwin
2001Diary of a Sex AddictSammy Jr.Direct-to-video film
2001I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa ClausJustin Carver
2002The Master of DisguiseYoung Pistachio Disguisey
2002Eight Crazy NightsKB Toys soldierVoice
2003Apple JackJack PyneShort film
2003Just for KicksCole MartinDirect-to-video film
2004The Heart Is Deceitful Above All ThingsOlder Jeremiah
2006Holidaze: The Christmas That Almost Didn't HappenKidVoice; direct-to-video film
2007A Modern Twain Story: The Prince and the PauperEddie Tudor
2008The Kings of AppletownClayton
2010Kung Fu MagooBrad LandryDirect-to-video film
2019Five Feet ApartWill Newman
2022MoonshotWalt
2024Lisa FrankensteinThe Creature
2024I Wish You All the BestThomas
2025The Rivals of Amziah King
2026Dead LettersPost-production

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1993–1998Grace Under FirePatrick KellyMain role
1998Mad TVKidGuest role; 2 episodes
2000–2002FriendsBen GellerRecurring role
2001The Nightmare RoomBuddyEpisode: "Scareful What You Wish For"
2001That '70s ShowBillyEpisode: "Eric's Depression"
2005–2008The Suite Life of Zack & CodyCody MartinMain role
2006The Emperor's New SchoolZimVoice; episode: "Oops, All Doodles/Chipmunky Business"
2006That's So RavenCody MartinEpisode: "Checkin' Out"
2008According to JimHimselfEpisode: "I Drink Your Milkshake"
2008–2011The Suite Life on DeckCody MartinMain role
2009Wizards of Waverly PlaceCody MartinEpisode: "Wizards [on Deck with Hannah Montana|Cast-Away (To Another Show)]"
2009Hannah MontanaCody MartinEpisode: "Super(stitious) Girl"
2010I'm in the BandCody MartinEpisode: "Weasels on Deck"
2011The Suite Life MovieCody MartinTelevision film; Sprouse also, alongside his brother, served as an executive producer
2012So Random!HimselfEpisode: "Cole and Dylan Sprouse"
2017–2023RiverdaleForsythe "Jughead" Jones IIIAdditionally portrayed teen Forsythe Pendleton in 2 episodes and Jack in 1 episode

Podcast

YearTitleRoleNotes
2020BorrascaSam Walker

Awards and nominations

Among his several accolades, Sprouse is a 13-time nominee and eight-time winner of the Teen Choice Award. As a child actor, he received three Young Artist Award nominations for his roles in Big Daddy and The Suite Life of Zack & Cody.
YearAwardCategoryNominated workResult
1999YoungStar AwardsBest Performance by a Young Actor in a Comedy FilmBig DaddyNomitated
2000Blockbuster Entertainment AwardsFavorite Supporting Actor – Comedy Big DaddyNomitated
2000MTV Movie AwardsBest On-Screen Duo Big DaddyNomitated
2000Young Artist AwardsBest Performance in a Feature Film – Young Actor Age Ten or UnderBig DaddyNomitated
2006Young Artist AwardsBest Performance in a TV Series – Leading Young ActorThe Suite Life of Zack & CodyNomitated
2007Kids' Choice AwardsFavorite Television ActorThe Suite Life of Zack & CodyNomitated
2007Young Artist AwardsBest Performance in a TV Series – Leading Young ActorThe Suite Life of Zack & CodyNomitated
2008Kids' Choice AwardsFavorite Television ActorThe Suite Life of Zack & CodyNomitated
2009Kids' Choice AwardsFavorite Television ActorThe Suite Life of Zack & CodyNomitated
2010Kids' Choice AwardsFavorite Television ActorThe Suite Life on DeckNomitated
2011Kids' Choice AwardsFavorite Television ActorThe Suite Life on DeckNomitated
2017Shorty AwardsBest Actor–Nomitated
2017Teen Choice AwardsChoice Drama TV ActorRiverdaleWon
2017Teen Choice AwardsChoice TV Ship RiverdaleWon
2018People's Choice AwardsMale TV Star of the YearRiverdaleNomitated
2018Saturn AwardsBest Performance by a Younger Actor in a Television SeriesRiverdaleNomitated
2018Teen Choice AwardsChoice Drama TV ActorRiverdaleWon
2018Teen Choice AwardsChoice Liplock RiverdaleWon
2018Teen Choice AwardsChoice Male Hottie–Won
2018Teen Choice AwardsChoice TV Ship RiverdaleWon
2019People's Choice AwardsDrama Movie Star of the YearFive Feet ApartWon
2019People's Choice AwardsMale TV Star of the YearRiverdaleWon
2019Saturn AwardsBest Performance by a Younger Actor in a Television SeriesRiverdaleNomitated
2019Teen Choice AwardsChoice Drama Movie ActorFive Feet ApartNomitated
2019Teen Choice AwardsChoice Drama TV ActorRiverdaleWon
2019Teen Choice AwardsChoice Ship RiverdaleWon
2020People's Choice AwardsDrama TV Star of the YearRiverdaleNomitated
2020People's Choice AwardsMale TV Star of the YearRiverdaleWon

Discography