Alyson Stoner, Dylan Sprouse, Cole Sprouse.Photo:Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty; Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty; Jerod Harris/Getty
Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty; Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty; Jerod Harris/Getty
Alyson Stoneris opening up about their experience onThe Suite Life of Zack & Cody.
In a series of TikToks coined “Dear Hollywood,” the former child star discussed aSuite Lifeepisode that they felt especially uncomfortable filming.
Stoner, 30, had a recurring role as the twins' friend Max on theDisney Channelshow starringDylan and Cole Sprouse, who played Zack and Cody Martin, respectively.
“So writers and executives might decide to make your character do anything on the next episode,” Stoner explained in aTikTok. “And it’s assumed that you’re going to agree to whatever scripted.”
“My first kiss and several of the times I experienced kissing all happened on camera,” they continued. “I remember onSuite Lifeon Disney, I’d already booked the role of Max and I’d filmed an episode. Well, a few weeks later, they wrote an episode where Max had to kiss both twins.”
Stoner was 12 when the series premiered, while the Sprouse twins were 13. They are likely referring to the season 1 episode “Kisses and Basketball,” in which Max impulsively kissed Zack after they win a big basketball game. However, Max and Cody never kissed on screen.
“I felt young and uncomfortable,” they continued. “I felt like, you know, this is part of my job. I chose to act and audition for this project. It’s only a character. So in that way, I justified like, ‘Okay, I can have my kiss here and then I’ll have my own separate first kiss at some point.'”
Alyson Stoner, Suite Life of Zack and Cody, Disney Channel.Disney Channel
Disney Channel
In 2016, Stoner revealed onThe Night Time Showpodcast that they had briefly datedColewhen the two of them were preteens.“The first boy, I guess, that I had like a crush on and dated wasCole Sprouse,” they shared at the time. They also added that Cole actually broke up with them on their birthday, claiming, “He just said, ‘It’s not going to work out.'”
Stoner has previouslyspoken out aboutthe negative effects that being a child actor had on them. In a candid 2017YouTube videotitled “What Happened to Alyson Stoner?,” they called the experience of being famous as a kid “weird and unhealthy.”
Alyson Stoner at San Diego Comic-Con 2022.Irvin Rivera/Getty
Irvin Rivera/Getty
“I was a pack mule growing up,” they said at the time. “Living in that little box? Being part of that little machine? It takes a huge toll on you … the competition, narcissism, perfectionism, the pressure, schedule, the traumatizing experiences that we can never talk about, because we’re either under contract or we’ll get shot or other things will happen to us if we open our mouths.”
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In June, theCamp Rockstar also alleged that theylost a jobdue to publicly coming out as queer.
“I did end up getting fired from a children’s show because they felt that I was unsafe, now that they knew I was queer, to be around kids,” they said on an episode of theI’m Literally Screamingpodcast. “So there was like, definitely discrimination.”
source: people.com
