Cole Sprouse wants to reframe the narrative surrounding child stars or, more specifically, female child stars.
During a conversation with The New York Times published April 4, "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody" alum said people would often refer to he and his twin brother Dylan Sprouse's success after Disney as making it out or being "unscathed." However, the young women who had roles on the network had a much harder time dealing with fame.
"My brother and I used to get quite a bit of, 'Oh, you made it out! Oh, you're unscathed!' No," Sprouse said. "The young women on the channel we were on were so heavily sexualized from such an earlier age than my brother and I that there's absolutely no way that we could compare our experiences. And every single person going through that trauma has a unique experience."
As he continues to gain notoriety in his career through "Riverdale" and the newly released HBO Max film "Moonshot," he said he notices that the same "psychological effects" from childhood fame are occurring in people's adult lives. However, he told the publication that he believes "people have an easier time hiding it when they're older."
"As I have now gone through a second big round of this fame game as an adult, I've noticed the same psychological effects that fame yields upon a group of young adults as I did when I was a child. I just think people have an easier time hiding it when they're older," he added.
Sprouse, who began acting when he was six months old, added that people always want to criticize child stars for "going nuts" but don't want to address the trauma of fame.
