- Sprouse and his twin brother Dylan became household names after landing lead roles in The Suite Life Of Zack And Cody aged 12
- The Sprouse twins also played joint roles in Adam Sandler’s Big Daddy comedy That 70s Show and the iconic Friends while popular child stars
- But the actor, now 30, says his mother Melanie pushed them into the industry with a view to cashing in on their talent after his divorce from their father.
Cole Sprouse has accused his ex-mum of ‘wicked narcissism’ after previously claiming she forced him into the acting industry to satisfy his own need for validation.
Sprouse and his twin brother Dylan became household names after landing starring roles in the Disney series The Suite Life Of Zack And Cody when they were 12 years old.
But the actor, now 30, says his mum Melanie pushed them into the industry with a view to profiting from their talent after his divorce from their dad Matthew – whom he describes as a ‘wonderful guy’ – before their first birthday.
Speaking to the Diary of a CEO Steven Bartlett, he said: “My mum was, and still is, the tortured artist type. She fought, in different ways, for her place in the world.
‘I think she found a tremendous sense of identity through motherhood and tried to make it a profitable business at the same time, which for identical twins getting into acting is an economic loophole – there are labor laws that can be incredibly profitable, so that’s what she did.
He added: “It made a lot of financial sense for her to push us to perform. I think it satisfied a kind of narcissism that she probably had in order to be recognized as a kind of artistic achievement.
“She was a wonderful painter, so she always wanted some kind of artistic recognition and validation. But over time, I think the entertainment industry kind of broke it.
The Sprouse twins also played joint roles in Adam Sandler’s Big Daddy comedy That 70s Show and the iconic Friends while establishing themselves as popular child stars.
However, Cole has since separated from his mother while publicly discussing their fractured relationship during a series of recent interviews.
During his latest, the actor claims court officials were forced to step in and award sole custody to their father after Melanie was deemed unfit to raise the children.
He said: “This industry encourages the worst qualities in you as a person… selfishness, greed. A lot of those things that we know as cardinal sins. It’s one of those things that has encouraged a kind of selfishness that directly opposes the fundamental idea of motherhood.
“And as I got older, in my case, the court had to step in and send me and my brother to my dad, who is an amazing guy.”
‘But that selfishness is something that the legal system also looked at and said she wasn’t fit for, and I think as I got older I looked back on a lot of the circumstances of all that environment and I see a person struggling with mental illness, addiction, but especially narcissism.
“Wicked narcissism. The inability to see anything from your own perspective, and that just doesn’t work with being a mother, with being a family in general.
Sprouse previously discussed his upbringing on the Call Her Daddy podcast, during which he claimed his mother wasted his childhood earnings.
He told the Spotify show: “When my dad was taken into custody, we had pretty much lost everything since the (early) parts of our careers.”
Addressing his mother’s unstable state, he noted: “I think it was the consequence of a chemistry of addiction and mental instability, and it’s probably the biggest injury of my life.”