In a now-deleted Instagram post, Sprouse debuted the goatee with the caption, “How to polarize a young fanbase.” Later, he shared more artsy shots of the new goatee. In a socially distanced photoshoot with Alex Hainer, Sprouse channels a bit of yeehaw Americana, wearing a red bandana around his neck, a work shirt and low key cowboy boots. Plus, of course, that wispy facial hair.
Sprouse captioned the photos from the shoot as more content “to sever my audience in twain.” Well, now in a new interview with Jimmy Fallon, Sprouse has given a slightly more thoughtful explanation for his new facial hair–other than it just being his usual trolling.
“I was growing my hair out and my mustache for a role, but then quarantine hit, and I figured, you know what? I'm going to be playing a 17-year-old for the next 80 years of my life. I might as well give myself a second to actually figure if I can grow a mustache,” Sprouse told the host.
The goatee situation apparently took Sprouse nearly the whole of the coronavirus isolation. “This has taken me about the fullness of the quarantine thus far. I've been trimming. I've been making sure it all looks kosher. My brother and I have been in a violent competition for whose facial hair is more robust.”
Considering that less than a month ago he was making headlines because of rumours that he was cheating on his girlfriend Lili Reinhart with the model Kaia Gerber, Sprouse is probably pleased that the most controversial thing about him now is what’s happening on his chin.
