Cole Sprouse may have spent his youth as one half of a double act, but his twenties have been all about coming into his own as an artist and an actor. Generations of young adults may have grown up on his work on “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody” and its sister series “The Suite Life on Deck,” but he’s moved on from Disney Channel sitcoms to challenging dramas, quirky cult horror comedies, and a legendarily campy television hit. All the while, he’s developed a wry comedic rhythm. From his beginnings as a teen idol, he’s built a career as a character actor with a résumé quite unlike many of his contemporaries. 

But which of his projects hits the highest notes? Here’s a brief ranking of Cole Sprouse’s seven most interesting and best-acted TV series and film roles, going all the way back to when he was a child actor and branching out to his most recent hits. 

It’s a fond memory for many a Millennial, but “Big Daddy” is one of those Adam Sandler comedies that hasn’t held up as well as “The Wedding Singer,” “Happy Gilmore,” or even “The Waterboy.” Yet both Cole and Dylan Sprouse — who share the role of Julian McGrath in the film — manage to give their character an appreciably wacky sense of life that goes beyond being a couple of blond moppets.

The film focuses on Sandler’s Sandy Koufax (yes, like the legendary Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher). A near-lawyer who’s never passed the bar, Sandy has been content to let life pass by without growing up or advancing his career. Then Julian, the biological son of Sandy’s roommate, Kevin Gerrity (Jon Stewart), is left on his doorstep after the boy’s mother dies of cancer. Kevin is out of town negotiating a deal in China, so Sandy decides to step up and take care of Julian, impersonating Kevin all the way. While he manages to finally attain maturity while raising the child, will his attempt at impersonating Kevin result in Julian being placed in a foster home?

It’s typical Sandler shenanigans all the way, but the movie’s sweet story and the unabashedly cute performances by Cole and his brother make it worth a watch, despite its very late-’90s jokes.

This marked the moment when the Sprouse twins really got to step out on their own and be individuals in front of the camera. A Disney Channel comedy that became one of the cable network’s series of big hits, “Suite Life” still has a strong fanbase even though nearly twenty years have passed since the show’s debut.

The series focuses on the Martin twins, studious Cody (Cole Sprouse) and mischievous Zack (Dylan Sprouse). The adolescents have the run of the ultra-fancy Tipton Hotel and live in a suite in the Boston-based facility where their mother, Carey (Kim Rhodes), makes ends meet by singing in the hotel’s lounge. The siblings’ working-class background clashes with that of their friend, self-absorbed heiress London Tipton (Brenda Song). London has a frequent rivalry with poor hardworking candy counter girl Maddie Fitzpatrick (Ashley Tisdale), who’s also a friend of the twins and goes to the same school as London, but on a scholarship. The two friends aid and abet Zack and Cody’s many adventures and schemes as they grow up together, while Mr. Mosby (Phill Lewis) acts as the group’s father figure, the hotel’s manager, and a frequent spoiler to their wacky adventures.

“Suite Life” was such a popular series it was eventually rebooted into “Suite Life on Deck,” which put the majority of the show’s cast on a cruise ship and ran for three more seasons. A science fiction-flavored TV movie, “The Suite Life Movie,” rounded out the show. There’s a reason why it was such an enduring show, and the Sprouse twins’ charm and sense of comedic timing were a big part of it.

Let’s face it — if you’re watching “Friends,” it’s probably not for Cole Sprouse’s seven appearances as Ben Geller. Nonetheless, the aspiring star managed to make a good impression in a series of important episodes featuring the character, including the famous “Holiday Armadillo” outing, which earns him a place on this list. This also marks the first time Cole Sprouse ever got to act solo in a major way, without splitting the role with his brother or playing a pair of siblings.

Ben, of course, is the result of Ross Geller’s (David Schwimmer) marriage to Carol Willick (Jane Sibbett). Ross splits custody of Ben with Carol and her wife, Susan (Jessica Hecht), but mainly sees his son on holidays and weekends. Ben is a mischievous kid with a sense of humor and a lot of heart, though he sometimes annoys and consternates the adults around him. Cole Sprouse makes him a fun kid who’s easy to sympathize with, especially compared to the wild adults in his life.

You would think that uniting teen faves Cole Sprouse and Lana Condor for a single television film would be a winning combination, but this Max-exclusive movie was largely forgotten by audiences soon after it was released. That’s unfortunate, because it’s a fun romp through the near future, with winning performances by both stars. 

It’s 2049, and teenagers Walt (Sprouse) and Sophie (Condor) are just kids trying to live their normal lives when they meet by chance at a party. Walt’s been trying to get into the Kovi Industries Student Mars Program, but he’s been rejected over thirty times. Sophie’s boyfriend, Calvin (Mason Gooding), has already made the grade and breaks her heart by deciding to spend more time on the red planet than originally planned.

Walt convinces Sophie to take the next shuttle to Mars to be with Calvin, as long as she sneaks him aboard so he can fulfill his dream of going to Mars and track down Ginny (Emily Rudd), a girl he fell in love at first sight with. But can Walt’s fantasies about Mars and Sophie’s fantasies about Calvin survive the test of reality? It’s not often that Sprouse gets to play someone as charmingly manipulative as Walt, so this is a fun stretch for his acting muscles that proves to be an enjoyable watch despite the movie failing to make an impact on audiences.

Despite what some people think, “Five Feet Apart” isn’t based on a true story. It is, however, a good, old-fashioned, romantic tearjerker about two teenagers, each of whom has a progressive and usually deadly disease, falling in love with each other. Romantic, quiet, and filled with warmth, the film gave Cole Sprouse the opportunity to introduce himself to the world as a full-on romantic lead without a hint of the typical dry sarcasm that typically underlies his performances.

Will Newman (Sprouse) and Stella Grant (Haley Lu Richardson) both have cystic fibrosis. Their illness forces them to maintain a physical distance between them of no less than five feet to avoid infection and death, thanks to their poor immune systems. But that’s not the only issue the teenagers’ relationship has; Stella keeps a strict eye on her health, while Will copes with his fatal diagnosis with a haphazard attitude. The two spark and court and fight, but can they outrun the disease they share to survive to the next year?

This is a classic weepy story that teenagers will love, but there’s also real substance and heft to it. Sprouse and Richardson do a good job with their roles and raise the entire film up beyond stock tragedy.

Perhaps the most amazing thing about The CW’s long-lived take on the Archie Comics universe is that it doesn’t even come close to the wild things that actually take place in the Archie Comics universe. Go into the show knowing that, and you’ll be better prepared for the performances and plot developments that will greet you.

Cole Sprouse manages to bring both gravitas and knowing humor to his role as Forsythe “Jughead” Pendleton Jones III, a wannabe author who chronicles the bizarre, odd, and downright wild things that keep happening in his hometown. While his character mainly plays the artistic straight-man narrator to the rest of his friends, Jughead still manages to get rabies, be abducted by aliens, and accidentally cause an entire alternate dimension to open up over the course of the series’ long run. That’s a decent amount of chaos for a single Riverdalian to set loose on the world.

The thing to remember about “Riverdale” is, don’t expect it to make much sense. The show’s time period eventually gets so confusing that Sprouse was once called upon to explain it. As Jughead, Sprouse has to perform a delicate balancing act between seriously guiding his character through hell and winking at the audience. Somehow, he pulls it off, and that’s a performance worth commending.

It’s rare that a film manages to be deemed a cult classic within months of its release, but “Lisa Frankenstein” looks like it’s set to join the rarified air that movies like “Jennifer’s Body” and “Re-Animator” occupy. Cole Sprouse is wonderful as the mainly silent Creature, creating a breakout character with a dearly wordless performance — something that’s very hard to do.

It’s 1989, and all Lisa Swallows (Kathryn Newton) wants to do is catch the attention of Michael (Henry Eikenberry), the boy she has a crush on. She also has a crush of sorts on a boy who died in 1837 (Sprouse) after being dumped by his fiancée. A miracle occurs when a bolt of lightning hits the Victorian-era grave and brings the boy back to life. Lisa soon finds herself playing Frankenstein, stealing body parts to replace her Creature’s rotting ones and using her stepsister Taffy’s (Liza Soberano) tanning bed as a conduit to charge said parts back to life. Soon, the Creature takes on a life of his own, and Lisa finds herself cleaning up his messes, falling in love with him, and even committing some crimes of her own.

A delightful dark comedy horror film with a wicked sense of time and place, “Lisa Frankenstein” is unforgettable thanks to Cole Sprouse’s performance in his best major role so far.