Fans Argue Child Stars Dylan & Cole Sprouse Looked ‘Cuter As Kids’ As Twins Flaunt Facial Hair At 32

Dec 10, 2024 by apost team

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Star twin brothers Dylan and Cole Sprouse are pretty much a part of many TV fans’ childhoods from the mid-’90s through to the 2000s. This is due to their undeniable talent and resonance on TV shows and movies like “Friends,” “Big Daddy” and “The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody.” 

More of their notable appearances can be gleaned from projects like “Grace Under Fire,” which was their first gig. The adorable duo had alternatively played Patrick Kelly from 1993 to 1998. The twins became well-known for more of their impressive roles as time went on. 

The Hollywood twins who once graced the big screen as child stars in “Big Daddy” are well into their adult years and living it up in their careers. Here is a look through the lives of one of America’s favorite pair of Hollywood twins. 

After Dylan and Cole did some gigs together as kids, they progressed by bagging separate jobs. In 2001, Cole played Ross Geller’s son in “Friends.” They gained worldwide renown when they portrayed twins Cody and Zack in “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.” The series was premised on twins who lived in the Tipton Hotel with their singer mom, Carey. They were known for their hijinks in their hotel room. 

The series’ success led to a sequel, and Dylan and Cole reprised their roles in the teen sitcom, “The Suite Life on Deck,” which ran for three seasons. They also played the same roles in “The Suite Life Movie.” In between the spin-offs, the Sprouse twins appeared in the three episodes of “That's So Suite Life of Hannah Montana,” a 2006 TV mix of three Disney Channel sitcoms: “That's So Raven,” “The Suite Life of Zack & Cody,” and “Hannah Montana.”

The twins understand how important the show was to their overall success. In 2020, 15 years after “The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody” first premiered, Dylan shared his thoughts about the series. 

He remarked that the show rescued him and his twin brother from the unpleasant situation they were confronted with in their lives at the time and was thankful for the good memories it would remind their viewers of as they watched it. 

Cole also confessed that he had a soft spot for the Suite series. In “73 Questions With Cole Sprouse” by Vogue, the actor reflected on his past time and confessed that he still indulges himself by watching some parts of it.

“When I’m drunk or feeling really narcissistic, yeah (I put it on),” he said and added, “I don’t really like to watch anything I do. So, I try to stay away from it. I know it sounds cheesy (but) I still have a really deep fondness for ‘The Suite Life.’”

During an interview on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast with Alex Cooper in March 2023, he also shared that Disney Channel opened doors for them, allowing them to get much-needed stability at that time.

“By the time my brother and I got to the Disney Channel we were good. It was a huge boon to us,” he said. “It was, in many ways, a life-saving show. It provided us with an amount of stability, and consistency, and routine that really was needed for my brother and I at the time,” he added.

Not only did working at Disney Channel provide financial stability for the brothers, but it also allowed them to make friends. Cole revealed that the crew threw a party for him after he graduated from middle school, which made him cry.

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While Dylan and Cole now have a passion for acting, that career path didn’t come naturally to them. Cole revealed on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast that he and Dylan got into acting because of their mother, Melanie Wright, who he said forced him and his brother to work at an early age. 

“My brother and I were put into acting when we were 8 months old by our mother because we needed money,” he said. “I never made the decision to join the arts or acting specifically. And so it was never really my passion.”

The actor felt that their mom was “wonderful” and “artistic” but also “financially irresponsible.” He further explained that her mental health and addiction problems contributed to the family’s financial problems. The boys’ dad was given full custody of them when they turned 10.

“When my father was given forced custody, we had pretty much lost everything from the (earliest) parts of our career,” he recalled. 

However, acting at Disney helped them find their footing quickly. According to Cole, two types of kids enter the entertainment scene – the ones who want it and the others who need it. He said they fell into the latter group.

“I think there’s two types of kids within the child acting business. There’s, like the ‘thespian children’ who choose to do it, and then there’s the working-class kids that, in our case at least,” he posited. “I mean it started, really, as a means to put bread on the table.” 

However, he clarified that he would choose the same path again and had no regrets about walking that line.

Cole has also been vocal about his experiences in Hollywood. He told Variety in 2019 that being a minor in the entertainment industry meant that he had no control over any decisions.

He further highlighted one major disadvantage: he lacked “real human “experience” for the nine years he worked for the Disney Channel. However, having his twin brother with him helped lessen the impact.

“Having an identical twin next to me going through the same exact experiences in a very similar way with a very similar point of view is therapeutic,” Cole said.

Thus, at the height of their stardom, the pair decided to take a break from acting and stay away from Hollywood for a while. Cole revealed that they had many offers after “The Suite Life” ended, but they wanted the opposite for themselves and hoped they would be forgotten after a while. 

The twins enrolled at New York University in 2010, where Dylan studied Video Game Design and Cole studied Archeology and Humanities. However, contrary to their expectations, they had people constantly checking up on them. Dylan and Cole graduated in 2015 and realized they couldn’t put their acting career behind them. 

“By not doing anything, we were doing something,” Dylan told Teen Vogue in 2015. “You know, it was something interesting to some people at least. So there was this realization recently that was like, ‘You know what? I think it’s time to just come to terms with that and go back into acting.’” 

After graduating from college, the twins returned to acting, with Cole getting a role in “Riverdale” and “Five Feet Apart.” Dylan also landed roles in movies like “Banana Split,” “Dismissed,” and “After We Collided.”

The brothers have other passions besides acting. Dylan is a brewmaster and co-owner of All-Wise Meadery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Meanwhile, Cole took up an interest in photography and has worked for big-shot magazines like Teen Vogue and many more.

He has photographed Sophie Turner for W Magazine, Kendall Jenner for The Sunday Times and Sam Smith for L’Uomo Vogue. Meanwhile, he revealed that he is particularly drawn to landscapes. 

Regarding their personal lives, Dylan married model Barbara Palvin in 2023, while Cole dated actress Lili Reinhart for some years before their 2020 split. He opened up about his relationship with the actress on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, where he shared that they “both did a lot of damage to each other.” 

He explained that it was challenging for them to navigate their relationship while working together. Cole included that they remained good friends despite their separation. He became romantically linked to model Ari Fournier in March 2021. 

Many years after their childhood Hollywood endeavors, Cole and Dylan have not lost sight of their adorable beginnings. Cole was in the news in 2019 when he celebrated the 25th anniversary of “Friends” and honored his role by posting stills from some of his scenes on Instagram. 

Cole, who played the role of Ben Geller, brought some nostalgia to fans of the popular series when he took a seat on the iconic sofa the cast often sat on whenever they had coffee at Central Perk. The official “Friend’s” Instagram account posted a picture of the significant moment and captioned it, “The One Where Ben Grew Up @colesprouse #FRIENDS25.”

The picture also showed Huggsy, the stuffed penguin who was Joey’s — played by Matt LeBlanc — bedtime partner. Other shots of Ben were included in the slides.

While speaking with Today earlier in the same year, Cole shared his memories of his time on the set of “Friends.” He particularly enjoyed reminiscing about “The One With the Holiday Armadillo.” He said:

“I was infatuated with the costumes, and the practical effects that they had.”

The costumes were not the only thing Cole was infatuated with at the time. He had a crush on co-star Jennifer Aniston, who played Rachel Green and was Ross Geller’s — played by David Schwimmer — love interest and wife in the series. 

“I’m pretty sure I fell in love with Jennifer Aniston, which the whole world had at that point,” he told Today. “But I do remember being quite intimidated around her, because of that. I remember blanking on my lines and having kind of stage fright when she sat next to me on the couch in one episode.”

Jennifer Aniston is not the only celebrity Cole has fond memories of. He and Dylan worked with Adam Sandler in “Big Daddy,” and the twins alternated playing the role of Julian. 

The 1999 movie followed the relationship between Julian, a 5-year-old boy abandoned on Sonny’s (Sandler’s) doorstep. The characters engage in serious mischief, but Sonny’s life turns around for the better after he decides to become responsible.

Cole and Dylan have nothing but admiration for their co-star, Sandler. In 73 Questions With Cole Sprouse, Cole mentioned that the renowned actor was one of his mentors when he was younger. He explained that he admired how much the “Uncut Gems” actor gave himself to production and was in tune with the different aspects of his life.

The Italy-born twins are doing well for themselves in their various endeavors. Dylan’s business, All-Wise Meadery, has seen great profit through the years, and he has some impressive acting credits under his belt. Meanwhile, Cole, also an archeologist, has made some fantastic finds, including an old ceramic theatrical mask of Dionysus in Bulgaria, which the actor said “spooked” him for a long time.

However, he confessed that he enjoyed digging up things more than being on set and revealed that he would return someday once he ticked off his list. He also disclosed that he was interested in portraying “Indiana Jones” and would “put on some muscle” if offered the role.

Meanwhile, the star cares very much about his mental health and shared that staying off social media helps him. While taking some time off social media, he started a podcast, which he credited with helping him get some experience as a producer. 

The Sprouse twins have also yet to rule out working together again. The actors have not been in the same movie since they finished college. 

Speaking about why they have not appeared together for a while, Dylan told HollywoodLife in 2020: 

“It would have to be right. A lot of the times when they want to cast my brother and I, it’s really stupid sh*t. So it would have to be something good and tasteful.” 

He disclosed in the same year that he would probably have to create a project for himself and his brother if they wanted something good and added that they would make a twin comeback if they had excellent material.

In 2024, the twins turned 32, having come a long way from their child star days. Both Cole and Dylan have settled into adult life, navigating careers and romances. However, among the unique challenges they both still face is the comparisons made between their looks. Even as twins, the pair bear some differences. For example, when they had just reached their teenage years, Dylan began putting on weight, which culminated in a Disney executive body-shaming him in public. 

Kim Rhodes, who played the twins’ mother on “The Suite Life Of Zack And Cody,” recalled the exec saying in front of the cast and crew one day that Dylan should get “no more junk food” until he looked like his slimmer brother again.

Criticism hasn’t been only thrown at Dylan’s weight, however. As child actors who grew up in the public eye, they have yet to be wholly separated from the public’s memories of them as kids. After seeing photos of the grown stars at a premiere where they both sported facial hair, many fans couldn’t help but compare them to their earlier years.

“The 2 brothers were so cute as kids,” one user commented, while another said, “Cuter as kids.” Yet another wrote, “Cute as kids, but not so much now.” 

Some of Dylan’s fans on Instagram echoed this sentiment, with one user saying:

“Cole and Dylan looked cuter when they were kids.”

Another remarked:

“Twins were cuter in their childhood.”

Despite the criticism, Dylan and Cole appear to be enthusiastically pursuing their passions. As of early September 2024, Dylan was busy promoting his new film, “The Duel,” while Cole has been focusing intently on photography. It’s clear both of these talented men have a bright future ahead!

Isn’t it endearing to see how much progress Dylan and Cole Sprouse have made years after their debut? What do you think of their incredible relationship? Let us know, and be sure to pass this on to other Dylan and Cole Sprouse fans.