Cole Sprouse Played an Adorable Prank on ‘Suite Life of Zack and Cody’ Guest Star Samantha Hanratty
Cole Sprouse was only 13 when he got his own Disney Channel show, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, with his brother Dylan. Samantha Hanratty was only 10 when she guest starred, but she said she already had a crush on both of them. Cole pranked her with a bit of innocent hazing when she arrived.
Hanratty spoke with Showbiz Cheat Sheet by phone on Nov. 18 about her new show Yellowjackets. She also shared these fun moments of working with the Sprouses on The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. New episodes of Yellowjackets air Sundays at 10 p.m. on Showtime.
Cole Sprouse took advantage of a starstruck ‘Suite Life of Zack and Cody’ fan
Keep in mind all the participants are early teenagers at most. No one’s going to do anything too nefarious. In fact, Cole Sprouse played one of the oldest jokes in the book on Hanratty.
“Cole played a prank on me the first day I met him,” she said. “He gave me a thing of jelly beans and a flying snake came out and hit me in the face. That was kind of my initiation onto the show.”
Samantha Hanratty was probably the only kid who’d fall for Cole Sprouse’s prank
Showbiz Cheat Sheet gave Hanratty the benefit of the doubt. When you’re ten, you probably haven’t seen a lot of snake in the can pranks before. Show business veterans have been known to pull much more elaborate pranks. Cole Sprouse couldn’t get away with snakes in the can with them.
“To be fair, I was like 10,” Hanratty said. “I was their perfect target. I was the perfect one.”
Hanratty said she was also distracted to meet her crushes. She said she tried to make light of her own embarrassment in front of Cole Sprouse.
“When you have a huge crush on somebody too, so you’re kind of like ha ha ha, that’s so funny, he he he,” she said. “At the same time, you’re like I’m such a loser now. But no, I was definitely mad crushing on both the boys.”
‘The Suite Life of Zack and Cody’ was a good experience for Samantha Hanratty
Hanratty already had quite a resume by the time she did The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. She had been in episodes of Charmed, House, Drake & Josh, and more. She also played an elf in The Santa Clause 3 and appeared in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. Still, Suite Life was a major boost for her.
“I hold those memories fond and dear,” she said. “I was the biggest Suite Life of Zack and Cody fan. So when I ended up booking that role for Holly, I feel like I blacked out completely. I was so excited and the second that I met the boys, they were so nice to me. THey immediately welcomed me. Ashley was just so kind. She’s actually the reason I met my best friend, Stella. Immediately, everyone was just so kind and welcoming.”
Hanratty must have impressed The Suite Life of Zack and Cody staff, too. They wrote more episodes for Holly.
“Then I became so close with everybody that I think it was about a year later after my first episode, I went to the writers room just to say hi and they were like, ‘You’re coming back,’” she remembered. “I was like no way. So they wrote me back on the show for four more episodes which was just so cool. I felt really, really lucky to be a part of that series.”
