Dylan Sprouse Just Responded To His “Suite Life” Costar Kim Rhodes’s Anecdote About Him Refusing To Make A “Fat Joke” At Her Expense As A Child Actor
In November 2023, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody star Kim Rhodes shared a seriously wholesome behind-the-scenes anecdote from her time on the show.
For context, Kim played Zack and Cody’s mom, Carey, in the sitcom, which starred Dylan and Cole Sprouse as the titular characters. The show was created with them in mind, and they were just 12 years old when it premiered in 2005.
Speaking on the Back to the Best podcast, Kim praised the actors for being aware of their power as the show’s stars from such a young age, and detailed how they took that responsibility seriously by protecting the rest of the cast and crew.
She explained that very early on, their costar Phill Lewis, who played hotel manager Mr. Moseby, made it clear to the kids that they were the most important people on the set, and should use that status in a positive way.
Kim said: “Phill was like: ‘Look, you’re the only people on this set that are not expendable, so you take the bullet every time,’ and they took that so seriously. It would be so easy for a 12-year-old to be like: ‘The prop didn’t work, it’s their fault!’ and they were always like: ‘No, no, I’m sorry, I’ll work on it, I wasn’t aware, I wasn’t paying attention.’”
The actor went on to share a specific memory of when Dylan showed exceptional maturity on set by refusing to make a fat joke at her expense.
Kim was pregnant at the time, and recalled: “Of course, the show dealt with it by making fat jokes. One of my favorite memories is that Dylan had a line that was a fat joke, and he kept skipping over it.”
“It was in the middle of a chunk of dialogue, so he kept skipping this laugh line, and skipping it, and skipping it, and skipping it,” she continued. “Finally, we get in front of the studio audience and he skips it, and the executive producer screams: ‘Cut!’”
“He goes: ‘Dylan, say the line,’” Kim went on, before detailing Dylan’s impressive response. “He goes: ‘I would not disrespect any woman that way, let alone this woman. You write something funny, and I’ll say it.’”
And in a new interview, Dylan has given his version of events as he doubled down on his decision not to make the joke.
During an appearance on SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live on Thursday, the star, now 31, was asked how old he was when the incident happened.
“I don’t know how old I was exactly,” Dylan told Andy. “Sorry, Kim, I don’t remember exactly when you were pregnant, but I think I was, like, 14, 15, maybe.”
When quizzed on why he didn’t say the line, Dylan nonchalantly replied: “I just don’t really think fat jokes are funny. I think they’re just like… There’s a better joke somewhere else, unless you’re talking about yourself. Unless it’s self-referential, which I find is fun.”
“But if you’re pointing the finger at people and talking about how they look… I just don’t tend to find that very funny in general,” he added. “I think there’s better jokes.”
Andy also asked how Dylan had the “confidence” to speak up at such a young age, to which Dylan quipped: “You’d be amazed at what having your own show at 11 will do for your confidence.”
He went on to add that his and Cole’s dad kept them “very, very grounded," echoing another story that Dylan shared this week.
During an appearance on Live with Kelly and Mark on Wednesday, Dylan revealed that his horrified father scolded him for being rude to Matt Damon when Matt came to visit the twins on the set of Suite Life at the height of their fame.
After snubbing Matt because he was so focused on his video game, Dylan recalled: "My dad, who you’ve met, grabbed me by the shoulder and he goes: ‘If I ever see you do that again, you will never be playing video games again.’ And I actually quit World of Warcraft after that, it was pretty eye-opening.”
Meanwhile, Suite Life was a huge success and ran until 2008. Dylan and Cole reprised the roles later that same year for the spin-off series The Suite Life on Deck, which ended three years later.
At this point, the twins enrolled in further education at NYU's Gallatin School of Individualized Study, with Cole focusing on humanities and archaeology, while Dylan studied video game design.
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