Dylan and Cole Sprouse tended to play twins or share roles when they were kids, but only Cole was cast to play Ben Geller on Friends. Here's why.
Since they were 8 months old, the twins shared so many movies, shows, and roles that Wikipedia gave them one shared page to make it easier. The twins famously played the single role of Julian in Big Daddy (1999) opposite Adam Sandler when they were six years old. The fun of watching them as kids in such roles was trying to figure out which one was playing Julian in which scene. As they got older, they began to play the roles of twins in their show The Suite Life of Zack and Cody and other small movies. Now that they’re older, they’ve gone on their own career paths. Cole has starred as Jughead in the teen drama Riverdale since 2017, and Dylan recently appeared in the movie After We Collided (2020). Since the Friends gig occurred when they were still young kids, why did only Cole play Ben Geller?
Cole revealed (per GQ) that whether or not he and his brother shared a role depended on how much screen time the character required. Since Ben had a very limited role - both in the episodes he appeared and the series as a whole - Friends only needed one actor to cover the role. Since Ben Geller's role was limited and the timeline had them at an age where they didn’t require a twin in case of behavioral issues, hiring both of them would have been unnecessarily expensive. Therefore, Ben Geller ultimately went to only Cole Sprouse - his first project that didn’t also feature Dylan.
Cole played Ben from seasons 6-8, though only appeared in seven episodes. Previously, Ben was played by one actor as an infant in the first two seasons, then by twins Charles and John Allen as a toddler. Cole came onto Friends once Ben required more dialogue and interactive plotlines, which allowed Cole to show off his solo acting skills. Cole seemed to enjoy his solitude in the role, even developing a huge crush on Jennifer Aniston (Rachel Green). He recalled (via Today) that he was so enamored by her that he would forget his lines when they shared a scene.
In the same GQ interview, Cole joked about how his character Ben was essentially killed off of Friends due to how limited the role became. Ben would be mentioned sporadically in the last two seasons, but Cole hadn’t physically played the role since the end of season 8 before Ross’s second child Emma was born. Friends even joked about Ben’s absence when Ross’s father, Jack, commented on how excited he was for the birth of his first grandchild Emma until Ross corrected him that he already had Ben. When asked about how Cole felt about his character being “killed off,” he replied that Ross wasn’t a very attentive father so it wasn’t surprising.
Next: Friends: How Much Coffee Every Character Drank In The Show
