Dylan Sprouse, once a Disney Channel star in the mid-2000s alongside his brother Cole, embarked on an unexpected career path, confessing that he ‘faked being 21’ to pursue this new venture in 2018.
Many former child stars choose to reinvent themselves as they transition into adulthood, often seeking a life away from the intense public scrutiny of their early fame.
Sprouse, now 33, was just 12 when The Suite Life of Zack and Cody debuted on Disney Channel in March 2005.
He shared the screen with his twin brother, Cole Sprouse, throughout the series and its spin-off, Suite Life on Deck, which launched in 2008.
Over a decade after his Disney days, Sprouse shifted gears to open a brewery, naming it All-Wise Meadery.
In a 2018 interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Sprouse explained his unconventional career change: “I was a pretty p*ss poor student in high school. I had ADHD and brewing was a way for me to pace myself. I picked mead because a lot of home-brewing books I read said that if you wanted to try something easy, start with mead.”
He admitted, “Obviously my first batches were terrible. But we were 16, 17, so all of us drank the s**t out of it anyway.”
Despite being underage at the time, the now 33-year-old, who is expecting his first child with wife Barbara Palvin, said it never posed a problem.
Sprouse shared: “I went to some home-brewing meetups, faking that I was 21. I don’t even know how I got away with that because I don’t even look 21 now.”
He added, “When I could finally go to the store and buy it legally, I just hated what was being sold.”
Sprouse has skillfully managed to juggle his acting career with his brewery, drawing parallels between the two fields.
“Brewers are entertainers whether they like it or not, because they are creating an experience for people. Oftentimes the alcohol is the entertainment at any party you go to,” he observed.
For those unfamiliar, mead is an ancient fermented alcoholic drink linked to Norse mythology and The Lord of the Rings.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, he remarked, “I think that if you are an actor, or you are an entertainer, and you don’t invest money in something that is more stable than the commission job that is acting, then you are a fool.”