Seems like I’m not the only one who overanalyzes things I said years ago. Cole Sprouse, who played Cody on The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, recently revealed on Twitter some of his past regrets that came along with being interviewed by major magazines at age 13.
He posted a photo of a magazine where he is quoted as saying, “I like a girl who is down-to-earth and doesn’t get worked up over anything—not the kind of girl who is so worried about how she looks that she has to put on pounds of makeup.”
Do you ever stay up tormented by something you said a long time ago? Lol yeah me neither I was just asking #LookLikeALittleDutchGirl #Round pic.twitter.com/Fc0Y67GEP6
— Cole M. Sprouse (@colesprouse) March 24, 2017
His caption reads, “Do you ever stay up tormented by something you said a long time ago? Lol yeah me neither I was just asking,” which implies that Cole has thought about this interview in the years since.
Today he recognizes the problem with it; as a kid he was conditioned to want the “cool girl.” His answer stereotypes women as emotional and crazy (“worried” and “worked up”). Plus there’s the problem with his comments about makeup—apparently baby Cole thought that those who wear a lot of makeup may be insecure about their looks or have body image issues, which he didn’t like.
Good thing Cole still thinks about interviews he gave as a kid, especially ones that perhaps fell into gender stereotypes that he no longer feels the same way about.
Cole seems to be growing up, not only in terms of his romantic interests, but also in his career. He currently plays Jughead on Riverdale, a television series that reimagines the Archie Comics. And Cole has been working hard to add diversity into the series by fighting to make his on-screen character asexual, seeing as the comics’ version of Jughead was revealed as asexual in Jughead No. 4. “I come from an educational environment that really praises, as do I, the forms of representation that are otherwise lacking in our public media,” he previously told Hollywood Life.
It seems like Cole’s education at NYU (he graduated with honors and an archeology degree) may have opened up his eyes to the real world. Now the 24-year-old regrets strange statements he made about women in the past—and isn’t afraid to admit it—and he’s trying to make the TV landscape less heteronormative.
Team Cole, anyone?