Phill Lewis initially turned down The Suite Life because of not-so-sweet salary offer

Lewis didn’t specify the amount Disney offered, but suggested that it was insulting given how long he’d already been working in the industry. “We turned it down,” Lewis continued. “We were like, ‘Sorry, thank you. We appreciate it. We’ll do Stuck In The Suburbs, and then we’ll walk away.” According to the actor, Disney was persistent and “kept sweetening the deal” before agreeing to pay him a certain amount per week, in addition to a movie role. “So I did the movie Dadnapped for them, where they paid me a good chunk of change to kind of offset what they weren’t paying per week,” he said. “So I was able to work everything out.”

Lewis isn’t the only Suite Life star who had grievances with Disney over pay. During the same conversation, Sprouse revealed that he received only one residual check for 5 cents, despite starring on such a popular show. It’s a good thing Lewis was able to negotiate a better deal, as he became a fixture throughout the show’s three-season run and its sequel series, The Suite Life on Deck, which also lasted three seasons. Sprouse, who was 11 when he started The Suite Life, told Lewis that he didn’t think the show would have felt like a family, or even survived two years, without him. Years after the Disney Channel series ended, Sprouse said that, aside from his twin brother, Lewis is the co-star he’s remained closest to.