Riverdale fans are buzzing over Five Feet Apart, a new movie from CBS Films that stars their very own Cole Sprouse and is set to release March 22, 2019. In the romantic drama, which was written by Mikky Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis, Sprouse and Haley Lu Richardson portray two people suffering from Cystic Fibrosis (CF). CF is a life-threatening terminal illness that leads to chronic infection of the lungs.
The pair are patients being treated at the same hospital but can be no closer to each other than six feet apart due to the risk of infection. Sprouse’s character Will is obstinate and stubborn about taking the medication he needs, while Richardson’s Stella vlogs about living with the disease, embracing the treatments as necessary. Opposites become inseparable and then are plagued by the pull to be together.
Reactions to the story line have been mixed. There are some who feel the movie is a wonderful way to deliver representation and awareness of CF and those who suffer from it. But others feel like it smacks of exploitation and is another example of Hollywood using able-bodied actors to play terminal-illness sufferers as a way to make the healthy feel relieved that they do not have these struggles.
However you feel about it, the actors appear to have taken their roles seriously. It has been reported that the pair spent time with Claire’s Place Foundation and its founder, activist Claire Wineland (who sadly passed away in September), in an attempt to prepare themselves for the role. Sprouse is quoted as having said in a recent Teen Vogue article, “There are some roles that carry a real responsibility for accurate representation, this was one of them.”
A teaser trailer was released on November 2. Take a look below and let us know what you think!