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Sprouse's Suite Life Residual Would Barely Tip the Bellhop
· New York time
Dylan Sprouse says the only residual check he received for The Suite Life of Zack and Cody was for five cents. The actor made the claim in an interview on his former Disney co-star Phil Lewis' Wildmen, emphasizing that he was not joking. The Disney Channel sitcom ran for three seasons and made Dylan and his twin brother Cole stars. Residuals are payments performers may receive for certain uses of their work after an initial production, and their terms can be an important part of a career long after a show leaves its first run. Sprouse's account supplies a striking contrast between a widely recognized series and the amount he says appeared on his check. It does not establish what other cast members received or the terms behind their payments. The setting makes the arithmetic especially comic: the show took place in a luxury hotel, while the souvenir Sprouse describes would not buy much from the vending machine. A hit can give performers visibility that lasts for years, but visibility and a particular residual payment are not the same line on a statement. In this version of hotel economics, the suite was memorable and the check was small enough to disappear between the cushions.
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