Millennials will easily remember Dylan Sprouse, who, along with his twin brother Cole, entertained audiences for years on Disney Channel as the star of The Suite Life of Zack & Cody. Yet starting to act at a very young age had consequences on his mental health, and today, looking back, the actor has described the beginnings of his career as “child labor.”
Dylan Sprouse e come la carriera da giovane attore abbia comportato “alcuni ostacoli mentali da superare”
Even though over the years Dylan Sprouse has acted in several notable projects, such as the After franchise or more recently in the romantic comedy A Beautiful Disaster and in its direct sequel, his career began very young, even before The Suite Life of Zack & Cody at the Grand Hotel. For example, on television, he appeared in Grace Under Fire from 1993 and later in That ’70s Show.
Recalling that period today has prompted the actor to share a reflection. During an episode of the Wildem podcast, he found it interesting to address the topic together with guest Mark Indelicato, who like him started working in this field at a young age: “We worked together on an episode of Zack & Cody at the Grand Hotel.” He revealed: “I absolutely want to dive deeper into this and talk a bit with him about how he faced the fact of growing up in this sector because, after all, there’s no point in beating around the bush: it’s child labor. When you work at that age… Some kids once worked in coal mines watching the carts at 15 years old, we simply sang and danced. But it still remains child labor!”
He clarified that, due to the beginnings of his career, he still has “some mental hurdles to overcome.”
Further ahead, while speaking with his colleague, he added: “One thing I wanted to tell you is the feeling of having done this for so long and of having grown up in this industry with this kind of Stakhanovite mentality. I mean, when you’re eight to seventeen years old and you work in this sector, it’s a full-time office job. I’ve explained this to many people: when you work in television, it’s a full-time job. You go in, clock in, you have a workstation, you work, obviously you’re on a stage, it’s different, but the hours are the same. That’s how it works.” Once filming on the project wrapped, he felt a void inside: “For a long time, my self-esteem was inextricably linked to my ability to work and to be on set.”
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