NBC's must see TV staple Friends ended over a decade ago, so it would make sense for none of you to expect those who played a part in the show to still answer when their character's name is yelled out. But, it looks like at least one of them still does exactly that. I know you're looking at the above photo and thinking, Awww, David Schwimmer still answers to Ross. And, while that might be true, he's not the Friends actor we're talking about right now. It's actually Cole Sprouse, who played Ross' son Ben on the show. Even though Sprouse was just a little kid when he worked on the series, people still recognize him and call him Ben. Here's what he had to say about getting noticed for the part as an adult:
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 the 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.
Well, Cole Sprouse is probably right that having the show on Netflix for a while now has probably dramatically increased interest lately, even though the show has been a constant in syndication for many, many years now. With its arrival on the streaming service, people can binge it in a way they couldn't before, unless they actually owned the show on DVD. There are probably a lot more folks just sitting around wiling away the hours by re-watching Friends than there were a few years ago. Of course, what Sprouse doesn't mention to the New York Post is that it's pretty remarkable that anyone even knows he's Ben at this point, as not only is he an adult now, but he dyed his hair black to play Jughead on The CW's Riverdale this year. Take a look at him now:
See what I mean? I don't care how many episodes of Friends I just binged, even if all of them had Ben in them, I would never guess that this was the same guy. Whoever's spotting him in the streets must have a savant level ability to hone in on actors while they're out in public.
Well, kudos to Cole Sprouse for making fans happy by answering to his character names in public. A lot of actors would get tired of that, especially when they hear the name of a character that they haven't played in well over a decade. I'm sure Ross would be proud of him.
