Dylan Sprouse starred for years alongside his twin brother Cole on the Disney Channel hit "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody." During an interview with "Vulture," the actor revealed that he finds being called a "former child star," a negative, if not "derogatory" label.
"That term is so derogatory. Isn't it always derogatory? Even 'young actor' sounds better," Sprouse told the online magazine. "You're already in a box. But they put you in a smaller box inside that box. It also implies past tense. It implies you've already failed, right? I was actually naïve enough to think that people wouldn't think of it in that way."
While soul searching, in 2013, the then ex-Disney Channel star took a gig working behind the counter of a coffee shop in NYC, actually serving drinks to customers, who were clearly shocked by the famous face behind the counter.
"I think they were just confused," Sprouse, 25, said, explaining to Vulture that he was just doing it and wasn't struggling or destitute at the time. "I was just doing what I impulsively thought I needed to do. And I knew I'd have a great time doing it."
When Dylan parted ways with the Disney Channel at 18, he attended New York University, which he says was due to how Disney was not meeting the brothers eye-to-eye on what direction they felt the show should go in.
"I mean, we had a really awesome idea for where the show needed to go. We were 18," Sprouse said. "If that isn't old enough to know exactly what the show needs, then well, I would beg to disagree."
The young twins did a whopping 158 episodes of the Disney Channel series "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody," "The Suite Life on Deck," "The Suite Life Movie," and the "That's So Suite Life of Hannah Montana" special. The two were reportedly earning upwards of $40,000 per episode combined, and possibly becoming the next Olsen Twins' empire.
"I don't think [Disney] were willing to work with us, really ever. So we stopped the show," Dylan added.
Dylan "developed a love" for brewing while at NYU, making beer, vodka, and bourbon – he even interned for a Brooklyn bourbon distillery. He's now gone back to acting and is currently filming "Banana Split," however also is using his brewing education to open a place of his own. Brother Cole currently works on the hit CW show "Riverdale."