Riverdale star Cole Sprouse has had his fair share of experiences in the spotlight, and now the actor is describing the "trauma" he and his fellow Disney Channel castmates went through, recovery and all.
Sprouse discussed his experiences growing up on Disney Channel with The New York Times, and pointed out that his female costars were sexualized more than him and his twin brother. "My brother and I used to get quite a bit of, 'Oh, you made it out! Oh, you’re unscathed!' No," Sprouse said. "The young women on the channel we were on [Disney Channel] were so heavily sexualized from such an earlier age than my brother and I that there’s absolutely no way that we could compare our experiences. And every single person going through that trauma has a unique experience. When we talk about child stars going nuts, what we’re not actually talking about is how fame is a trauma."
Sprouse went on to talk about how the experience has followed him into his adult life. "And, to be quite honest, as I have now gone through a second big round of this fame game as an adult, I’ve noticed the same psychological effects that fame yields upon a group of young adults as I did when I was a child," he said. "I just think people have an easier time hiding it when they’re older."
Sprouse was on The Disney Channel from 2005-2011, working alongside twin brother Dylan, Brenda Song, and Ashley Tisdale. The talented young cast were no strangers to the working world, and they are not the only ones to have experienced such trauma on the network. Stars like Demi Lovato and Miley Cyrus have previously spoken up about their regrets working on The Disney Channel.
However, The Walt Disney Company seems to have evolved over the years, with The Disney Channel praised in the past for including a variety of storylines such as LGBTQ+, though they have yet to speak out about the sexualization problem.
As for Sprouse, the actor is still starring as Jughead on The CW's Riverdale, which recently got renewed for a seventh season. Recently, Sprouse admitted that most of the cast is ready to move past the series and work on different projects.
Source: The New York Times
