Dylan Sprouse Refused To Tell ‘Fat Jokes’ On Suite Life Of Zack & Cody

During filming The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, US actor Kim Rhodes revealed that Dylan and Cole Sprouse showed her unwavering loyalty and even "defended" her.

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On the well-liked Disney Channel sitcom from the Noughties, Rhodes, 54, played Carey Martin, the on-screen mother of the Sprouse brothers' titular twins.

In a recent interview with the Back to the Best podcast, Rhodes talked about her experiences working with the two preteens. She recalled a specific instance in which Dylan defended her and declined to make a derogatory "fat joke" about her.

“They defended me all the way through. I got pregnant when I was on the show, and of course, the show dealt with it by making fat jokes,” she recounted.

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“One of my favorite memories is Dylan had a line that was a fat joke, and he just kept skipping over it,” she shared. 

“It was, like, in the middle of a chunk of dialogue, so he kept skipping this laugh line… And finally, we get in front of the studio audience and he skips it, and the executive producer screams, ‘Cut! Dylan, say the line!’ And he goes, ‘I would not disrespect any woman that way, let alone this woman. You write something funny and I’ll say it.’”

Rhodes continued, referring to them as "my little men": “They both were very protective of everyone on set. It wasn’t just me… The fact that they, at such a young age, understood that it was their job to make sure everybody else was able to do their job, was really impressive.”

The Supernatural actress further disclosed that, because "they were kids when I worked with them," she is no longer in contact with her former on-screen sons.

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“I often tell people when they’re like, ‘Aw, you don’t keep in contact?’ I’m like, ‘Think about your favorite teacher in middle school. Think about your favorite teacher. Now as much as you love them, you’re probably not still in contact with them.’ ”

Rhodes continued, saying that her "heart swells" when she sees what they are up to on social media.

“If I ever saw any of them, I would clutch them to me and sob with love and pride,” she said.

Cole talked about the costs of stardom at a young age and acknowledged that his experience could not be compared to that of young female celebrities in an interview with The New York Times from the previous year.

“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,” he said.

“So I’m violently defensive against people who mock some of the young women who were on the channel when I was younger because I don’t feel like it adequately comprehends the humanity of that experience and what it takes to recover.”

The 31-year-old Dylan and Cole are most recognized for playing Cody and Zack Martin, respectively, on The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and its spin-offs, such as The Suite Life on Deck.

Both have carried on with their acting careers after leaving the popular Disney show, with Cole going on to feature in the recently concluded seven-series drama Riverdale on The CW. He also acted with Lana Condor in the romantic sci-fi film Moonshot (2022) and alongside Haley Lu Richardson in the 2019 romantic movie Five Feet Apart.

Dylan, meanwhile, most recently starred in the 2023 romantic comedy Beautiful Disaster. He wed Barbara Palvin, a Hungarian model, earlier this summer.