The Sprouse Twins today: Inside their life now, at 30

Cole and Dylan Sprouse are aware that sometimes you need a partner.

The lovely identical twins, who won our hearts with their humorous portrayal of the precocious young kid on Big Daddy with Adam Sandler almost 25 years ago, are no longer young. They’re not even lads.

Dylan, a handsome 30-year-old man, and Cole, his brother by 15 minutes, are still very close even though their relationship isn’t as strong as it once was.

Cole and Dylan Sprouse with their manager/mother Melanie (on the left). Image courtesy of Online USA, Inc. and Maureen Donaldson.

The lovely blond boys, who were born in 1992, first appeared in advertisements, TV shows, and movies when they were just 8 months old.

Due to child labor rules that forbid children from working excessively long hours, identical twins are a big resource in Hollywood, as Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen of the Full House fame provide as proof.

And having two of them was preferable to having one for the tiny Sprouses.

Their breakthrough performance was in the television comedy Grace Under Fire, when they portrayed the son of Grace Kelly, played by Brett Butler, from 1993 until 1998. The twins were exceptional in their joint portrayal of Patrick Kelly as they developed from infants into walking, talking six-year-olds.

“As Grace’s 8-month-old, it’s impossible to tell at this point if Dylan and Cole Sprouse are the Olsen twins of tomorrow,” writes Tim Grey.

They commanded every scene when they played Sandler’s adopted kid in the comedy movie Big Daddy (1999), delivering words at precisely the right moments.

In 2022 about Sandler, Cole said, “Perhaps I’m a bit biased because I’ve known him for ages, but I do admire his career. He’s got a really, really wonderful balance between art and commerce that I think is the currency of a real working actor.” Cole continued, “He’s walking that line beautifully and he’s raising up all of his friends at the same time, which I think is incredible.”

Cole’s role on the popular TV show Friends divided the power duo of Cole and Dylan from 2000 to 2002. The first role Cole played without Dylan was that of Ben, the young son of Ross Gellar, who is portrayed by David Schwimmer.

In reference to his favorite Friends episode, “The One with the Holiday Armadillo,” Cole explains, “I remember that quite well. I was infatuated with the costumes, and the practical effects that they had.”

He also admitted that he had other passions besides costumes. He also harbored a deep infatuation on Rachel, his co-star in the movie.

Cole stated during an interview, “I’m pretty sure I fell in love with Jennifer Aniston, which the whole world had at that point. 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.”

In the 2002 movie Master of Disguise, Cole and Dylan reunited and twinned once more as the youthful Pistachio Disguisey.

The boys were already beginning to form distinctive personalities that would shape their own careers.

That was when they portrayed Zach and Cody in The Suite Life of Zach & Cody, a Disney program that debuted in 2005 and received three seasons and an Emmy nomination. After the series ended, they continued to play Zach and Cody in other Disney productions, including Hannah Montana with Miley Cyrus and The Suite Life Movie.

The adolescent heartthrobs were becoming more and more popular, sending young girls into a frenzy, but being mature young men, they moved on to the next stage and enrolled at New York University, with Dylan studying video game design and Zack humanities and archaeology.

“I needed to take a break and step outside myself, I needed a dose of reality, and I needed to see myself in a more objective point of view. And now I think I can enjoy [acting], which is a really fundamental part about being an actor,” Cole said, explaining that the long-running Disney series had him feeling like a machine.

“I’m not saying that we didn’t enjoy that time, but it was work. It’s a career and a business, and it got me to college, which is one of the most fantastic gifts I could’ve been given. But I’m glad to be [acting] on my own accord now.”

After receiving their diplomas in 2015, Cole and his brother resumed appearing on television separately.

As independent men, they are no longer playing the same role; their distinctive personalities are leading them on separate journeys.

Since 2017, Cole has been portraying Jughead Jones, the main character in Riverdale, a supernatural drama TV series based on the Archie comic book characters.

He met French-Canadian model Ari Fournier more than two years ago, and the two are currently dating.

On the other side, Dylan is engaged to Sports Illustrated model Barbara Palvin and works as a voice actor for video game characters. In addition, he helped develop the Brooklyn, New York-based artisan brewery All-Wise Meadery.

In 2020, Dylan said, “It’s more likely that I will write something for us to work in together, rather than someone approach us. Twin movies are never good! That’s just the universal truth I think the universe has given to us, and so if we can find the right thing then, yeah.”

It’s incredible to think that it’s been so long since we first met the endearing Sprouse twins on Big Daddy!

We can’t wait to see what they do next because they have both accomplished some amazing things both inside and outside of Hollywood.