What to know about Dylan and Cole Sprouse’s parents

Dylan and Cole Sprouse made a name for themselves as child stars of the 2000s. They made their major theatrical debut in 1999’s Big Daddy before appearing in several television sitcoms. In 2005, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody premiered and propelled Dylan and Cole to child acting superstardom.

The real-life twins played on-screen brothers Zack and Cody. They reprised their roles in The Suite Life on Deck, which premiered in 2008 and made Zack and Cody the highest-paid teenage Disney television stars. Per MSN, the twins were the richest teenage twins in the world by the end of the 2000s. Cole appears as Jughead Jones in the series Riverdale.

Dylan’s and Cole’s parents were English teachers in Italy when the twins were born

Dylan and Cole were born on 4th August 1992 to Matthew Sprouse and Melanie Wright in Arezzo, Italy. The children were delivered by Senora Maggie, a midwife who, according to Cole, ‘had hand-delivered at least half the town since World War II.’ The Sprouses have German ancestry.

Dylan is 15 minutes older than Cole, a fact he regularly exploits. “I was born 15 minutes before Cole, and I still use it to my advantage – hahaha,” Dylan wrote on the brothers’ website.

Matthew and Melanie were teachers in Italy when their sons were born. They named Cole after jazz singer Nat King Cole and Dylan after famous poet and writer Dylan Thomas. 

Melanie and Matthew divorced in 1997. Matthew remarried and is still together with his second wife. 

Melanie encouraged her sons to get into acting because the family needed the money

The family moved to Matthew and Melanie’s native Long Beach, California when Dylan and Cole were four months old. Melanie pushed Dylan and Cole into acting barely a year after they were born because the family needed money. In a since-deleted Tumblr post, Cole stated that he probably wouldn’t have gotten into acting were it not for Melanie:

“My brother and I were put into acting when we were 8 months old by our mother because we needed the money. I never made the decision to join the arts or acting specifically. And do it was never really my passion. To be honest, if she never thrust me into it, I probably never would have thought of it as a career choice for myself.”

Despite their overwhelming success as actors, the boys made clear their intention to join college. The boys were schooled on set due to their hectic schedules. “I’m actually thinking about colleges,” Dylan told Parade in 2007. “We both want to go.” The boys were accepted to New York University in 2010 and enrolled in 2011. 

On 24th August 2011, Melanie lamented via Facebook about her sons’ departures to the opposite coast. “My twin sons Dylan and Cole Sprouse are leaving this Thursday for NYU,” she wrote. “I feel so far away as a mother in Los Angeles, California. Can anyone secretly watch over them for me? Empty nest. Sigh. Thanks.”