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Image Credit: Jim Ruymen/UPI/Shutterstock / Matteo Prandoni/BFA.com/Shutterstock
Alyson Stoner, who uses they/them pronouns, took to their podcast, Dear Hollywood, on Aug. 18 to recall what is was like to have their first kiss on-camera. The 30-year-old actor previously starred in The Suite Life of Zack & Cody on Disney Channel and took on the role of Max, alongside real-life twins Dylan and Cole Sprouse, 31. During the tell-all podcast episode, Alyson revealed that they felt “uncomfortable” kissing the twins at the age of 12.
@alysonstoner
Let’s talk about my first kiss. 😰 #DearHollywood in the link in bye-oh
♬ original sound – AlysonStoner
“Writers and executives might decide to make your character do anything on the next episode and it’s assumed that you’re going to agree to whatever is scripted,” they explained. “My first kiss and several of the times I experienced kissing all happened on camera.” Alyson went on to recall the episode of the Disney show in which their character, Max, had to kiss both Zack and Cody, who were Dylan and his brother‘s characters.
“I remember on Suite Life on Disney, I’d already booked the role of Max and I’d filmed an episode,” the Camp Rock star said. “Well, a few weeks later, they wrote an episode where Max had to kiss both twins.” The official episode is titled “Kisses and Basketball” and aired on the show’s first season. Alyson claimed that they were not aware that they were set to kiss Dylan and Cole on the show when they first auditioned for the role.
Alyson Stoner starred on ‘The Suite Life of Zack & Cody’ alongside Dylan & Cole Sprouse. (Jim Ruymen/UPI/Shutterstock / Matteo Prandoni/BFA.com/Shutterstock)
“I felt young and uncomfortable,” they admitted. “I felt like, you know, this is part of my job. I chose to act and audition for this project. It’s only a character. So in that way, I justified like, ‘OK, I can have my kiss here and then I’ll have my own separate first kiss at some point.’” Alyson shared a clip of this conversation via TikTok and many of their 2.7 million followers took to the comments to react to the kissing incident.
“That’s actually so messed up….,” one fan wrote, while another added, “This is so sad actually.” A separate viewer took to the comments to share their hopes on what this conversation could do for the industry. “I’m hoping intimacy coordinators becoming industry standard helps with this,” they penned. Finally, one fan expressed their support for Alyson. “Growing up watching you, this is so disheartening that you had to experience these things. We love you and support you!”, they gushed. The Ohio native went on to star on many other Disney projects including Lilo & Stitch, Cheaper by the Dozen, Phineas and Ferb the Movie, and more.
