Cole Mitchell Sprouse was born in Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy to American parents Melanie (Wright) and Matthew Sprouse, and grew up in Long Beach, California. His father is of Italian descent and his mother is of English and German ancestry. He began acting at the age of four when he appeared in a commercial for Goody's Headbands. He also did some voice work for several cartoons including Batman: The Animated Series as Young Robin and Spider-Man: The New Animated Series as Bugle Boy. In addition, he had a guest role as Young Lucas in an episode of Family Matters. Later on, he would go on to play Young James Dean in the 1991 film version of Stephen King's novel, The Shining. After finishing high school, Cole moved to London where he attended St. Martins School of Art and then went on to study filmmaking at the University of Southern California. While attending USC, he also acted in several more movies including Black Hawk Down and The Notebook. After graduating from USC, he moved back to Los Angeles where he has been working on various projects since then. Besides acting, he also writes and directs music videos and has guest starred on television shows such as Gossip Girl, The Vampire Diaries, and How I Met Your Mother.