“Riverdale” star Cole Sprouse has gotten a lot edgierไ since playing Ross’ (David Schwimmer) adorable son Ben in later episodes of the 1994-2004 sitcom “Friends.” But if you squint, you may still see a little bit of Ben in Sprouse, 24, who ditched his natural blond locks to play Jughead, the black-haired narrator on th꧑e CW series (9 p.m. Thursdays).
“We went 🍬all dark and grimy for ‘Riverdale’,” Sprouse says of his visual transformation to the comic book character, who sports a distinct, crown-l⛦ike knit cap.
The actor — who also starred alongside twin brother Dylan on the 2005-08 Disney Channel series “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody — spoke with The Post by phone from LA on ꦜTuesday after “Riverdale” was renewed for a second season.
How old were you when you started on “Friends”?
I must have been maybe 7 or 8. I was only in seven episodes, but it’s funny nꩵow that people are recognizing me for that because my brother and have been working since we were 8 months old. So I’m sure the professional entertainment sleuths are eventually gonna find all these strange little cameos of my brother and I over time.
I had a really, really hard time working with Aniston because I was so in love with her. I🎃 was♌ infatuated.
- Sprouse on working with Jennifer Aniston on 'Friends'
Do people recognize you now from “Friends”?
Yeah, actually. Because “Friends” is on Netflix, there’s a renewed interest from that. Having responded to a Disney show for such a long time, people can call me “Ben” on t💦he street and I will turn around. It’s a funny little process. Now people are calling me Jughead — it’s ♓a strange feeling when you start getting called something new.
As a kid, did you realize how big of a deal the show was?
The scale was just tremendous and you felt it when you stepped on set, even as a kid. It was challenging because I was a small kid who was working with these sort of megalithic actors at the time. It was quite intimidating. But it was a really wonderful experience. They were all tremendo🦩usly nice.
I understand you had a crush on “Friends” star Jennifer Aniston?
I had a really, really hard time working with Aniston because I was so in love with her. I was infatuated. I was speechless — I’d get all bubbly and forget my lines and completely blank … It was so difficult. [laughs]
Have you randomly seen much of the cast since then?
No, I haven’ꦓt. If I saw any of them, I’d say, “Hello.” But it’s been a while and I certai🦩nly don’t look the same, so it’d be a hard sell. And if I did look the same, that’d be a little disconcerting.
How did you and your brother wind up, as toddlers, on the 1993-98 Brett Butler sitcom “Grace Under Fire”?
Twins work really well in the industry because child labor laws dictate a baby, as an example, can only wo✱rk for, like, an hour a day. So [with twins], the production doubles the amount of time they can work with a kid. So having two identical twin boys, my mom was, like, “All right, you golden ticket — let’s sell it!” I remember being on [the “Grace Under Fire”] set and growing up on that soundstage and running around and causing a little bit of mischief. I haven’t watched it at all. I honestly could not tell you what that show is even about. [laughs]
Will you try to keep your Jughead hat when “Riverdale” eventually ends?
Oh, totally. The unfortunate thing is right now there are only two, and one of them I wear for almost every scene — and it doesn’t get washed. Maybe I won’t try and keep that one specifically. But I’ll definitely try and take a Jughead hat home that doesn’t smell like howꦫever many years on my head. [laughs]