Cole Sprouse Opens Up On Hollywood's Effects On Child Actors: 'Fame Is A Trauma'

Former Disney Channel star Cole Sprouse has reflected on the traumatizing effect of fame on young stars.

The 29-year-old actor, who starred with his twin brother Dylan in the 2005 sitcom "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody," recalled how people used to praise them for surviving stardom better than their female counterparts.

"My brother and I used to get quite a bit of, 'Oh, you made it out! Oh, you're unscathed!' No. The young women on the channel we were on [Disney Channel] 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," he said in a new interview with The New York Times.

"And every single person going through that trauma has a unique experience. When we talk about child stars going nuts, what we're not actually talking about is how fame is a trauma," he added.

As a child actor, Cole also starred in the sitcom "Grace Under Fire" and in the Adam Sandler movie "Big Daddy." He also played Ross' son on "Friends" before immersing himself in the Disney sitcom "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody." By age 18, Cole and his brother had already felt the effects of burnout.

Cole says he defends child stars who are mocked by critics because he understands the pressure of show business, especially on young people.

"I'm violently defensive against people who mock some of the young women who were on the channel when I was younger because I don't feel like it adequately comprehends the humanity of that experience and what it takes to recover. And, to be quite honest, 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," the actor explained.

Cole took a break from acting and successfully pursued a degree in archaeology from New York University before auditioning and getting a role in "Riverdale" as Jughead Jones.

His latest project is HBO Max's "Moonshot."He plays the lead character Walt who tricks college student Sophie (Lana Candor) so he could hitch a ride on a Mars-bound rocket.