Cole Mitchell Sprouse (born August 4, 1992) is an American actor and photographer. He is known for his role as Cody Martin on the

Disney Channel Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Comp ...

series ''

The Suite Life of Zack & Cody ''The Suite Life of Zack & Cody'' is an American sitcom created by Danny Kallis and Jim Geoghan. The series aired on Disney Channel from March 18, 2005, to September 1, 2008. The series was nominated for an Emmy Award three times and was a ...

'' (2005–2008) and its spin-off series ''

The Suite Life on Deck ''The Suite Life on Deck'' is an American teen sitcom that aired on Disney Channel from September 26, 2008 to May 6, 2011. It is a sequel/ spin-off of the Disney Channel Original Series ''The Suite Life of Zack & Cody''. The series follows twin ...

'' (2008–2011). In his early career, he appeared in various projects alongside his twin brother

Dylan Sprouse Dylan Thomas Sprouse (born August 4, 1992) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Zack Martin on the Disney Channel series ''The Suite Life of Zack & Cody'' and its spin-off, ''The Suite Life on Deck'', where he starred alongs ...

. In 2017, Sprouse began starring as

Jughead Jones Forsythe Pendleton "Jughead" Jones III is one of the fictional characters created by Bob Montana and John L. Goldwater in Archie Comics who first appeared in the first Archie story, from '' Pep Comics'' #22 (December 1941). He is the drummer of ...

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

television series '' Riverdale''.

Early life

Cole Mitchell Sprouse was born in

Arezzo Arezzo ( , , ) , also ; ett, 𐌀𐌓𐌉𐌕𐌉𐌌, Aritim. is a city and '' comune'' in Italy and the capital of the province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation of above sea lev ...

, Italy, to American parents, Matthew Sprouse and Melanie Wright. He was born 15 minutes after his twin brother

and was named after jazz singer and pianist

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...

. When the twins were four months old, the family moved back to their parents' native

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

. In college, Sprouse majored in Geographic Information Systems in archaeology because his grandfather was a geologist and he was interested 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 ''Grace Under Fire'' is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from September 29, 1993, to February 17, 1998. The show starred Brett Butler as a single mother learning how to cope with raising her three children alone after finally divorcing her ...

'' from 1993 to 1998, Julian in the 1999 film, '' Big Daddy'', and young Pistachio Disguisey in 2002's ''

The Master of Disguise ''The Master of Disguise'' is a 2002 American adventure comedy film directed by Perry Andelin Blake in his directorial debut, written by Dana Carvey and Harris Goldberg, and starring Carvey, Brent Spiner, Jennifer Esposito, Harold Gould and Ja ...

''. In 2001, Cole began appearing in episodes of NBC's television sitcom ''

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Li ...

'', as

Ross Geller Ross Geller, portrayed by David Schwimmer, is one of the six main characters of the NBC sitcom ''Friends''. Ross is considered by many to be the most intelligent member of the group and is noted for his goofy but lovable demeanor. His relatio ...

'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 ''Mad TV'' (stylized as ''MADtv'') is an American sketch comedy television series originally inspired by ''Mad (magazine), Mad'' magazine. In its initial run, it aired on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox from 1995 to 2009. After a one-off reuni ...

'' sketch. Sprouse portrayed Cody Martin in the 2005 Disney Channel original series, ''

'' alongside his brother; he reprised the role in the show's 2008 spinoff, ''

'' and its related film.

2016–present: Post-university return to acting

On February 9, 2016, Sprouse was cast as

's teen drama series '' Riverdale'', based on the characters of

Archie Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York. 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 Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a rare genetic disorder that affects mostly the lungs, but also the pancreas, liver, kidneys, and intestine. Long-term issues include difficulty breathing and coughing up mucus as a result of frequent lung infections. Ot ...

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. In 2021, he was cast in '' Moonshot'' alongside

Lana Condor Lana Therese Condor (born Trần Đồng Lan; May 11, 1997) is an American actress, producer, and singer. She made her acting debut starring as Jubilee in the superhero film '' X-Men: Apocalypse'' (2016), and gained international recognition f ...

Personal life

Sprouse is a fan of comics and worked at the Los Angeles comic store Meltdown. Sprouse began attending

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

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 In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...

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 In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; grc, wikt:Διόνυσος, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstas ...

on a dig in

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

. Sprouse has an avid interest in photography. In 2011, he launched a personal photography website and took classes at NYU. He has had shoot assignments for major fashion publications including ''

Teen Vogue ''Teen Vogue'' is an American online publication, formerly in print, launched in January 2003, as a sister publication to ''Vogue'', targeted at teenagers. Like ''Vogue'', it included stories about fashion and celebrities. Since 2015, following ...

'', ''

L'Uomo Vogue ''Vogue'' is an American monthly fashion and lifestyle magazine that covers many topics, including haute couture fashion, beauty, culture, living, and runway. Based at One World Trade Center in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, ''V ...

'', '' The Sunday Times Style'', and '' W Magazine'', among others. On May 31, 2020, Sprouse was arrested after he joined the protests in Los Angeles for

racial justice Anti-racism encompasses a range of ideas and political actions which are meant to counter racial prejudice, systemic racism, and the oppression of specific racial groups. Anti-racism is usually structured around conscious efforts and deliberate ...

after the

murder of George Floyd On , George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was murdered in the U.S. city of Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white police officer. Floyd had been arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's ...

Filmography

Film

Television

Podcast

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 The Young Artist Award (originally known as the Youth in Film Award) is an accolade presented by the Young Artist Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1978 to honor excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young ...

nominations for his roles in '' Big Daddy'' and ''

''.

Discography

A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes "A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes" is a song written and composed by Mack David, Al Hoffman and Jerry Livingston for the Walt Disney film ''Cinderella'' (1950). In the song, Cinderella (voiced by Ilene Woods) encourages her animal friends to ...

", '' Disneymania 4'', 2005 *"

", ''

Princess Disneymania ''Princess Disneymania'' is Disney's first compilation album in the '' Disneymania'' series. It was released on September 30, 2008. The album features various artists renditions of classic songs originally from the Disney Princess films. Emily Osm ...

'', 2008

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sprouse, Cole 1992 births 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors American male child actors American male film actors American male television actors Identical twin male actors Living people People from Arezzo Male actors from Long Beach, California American identical twin child actors People from Calabasas, California New York University Gallatin School of Individualized Study alumni