Five Feet Apart’s emotional effect on young stars Cole Sprouse and Haley Lu Richardson

Actors Cole Sprouse and Haley Lu Richardson have revealed they were profoundly changed by filming drama Five Feet Apart, saying that spending time with cystic fibrosis patients taught them to take stock of the simple things they had taken for granted.

• Distance the new obstacle in sick- lit romance
• Jordan Peele’s Us has double the frights
• Ross Geller was a ‘deadbeat dad’

Cole Sprouse and Haley Lu Richardson were forced to confront their own mortality while filming an emotional drama where the simple act of touch between two young lovers could be deadly.

Set in the claustrophobic confines of a busy hospital ward, Five Feet Apart follows the struggles of young cystic fibrosis sufferers Stella (Richardson) and Will (Sprouse). The pair meet when Stella is admitted to the hospital and, after a rocky start to their relationship, grow close as they battle the illness together.

Cole Sprouse and Haley Lu Richardson promoting the movie in New York this month. Picture: Getty

But a rule that patients with cystic fibrosis must not come within six feet of each other for fear of cross-contamination — as no two sufferers have the exact same infection — means that as their bond grows, so too does the anguish of living within those boundaries.

MORE FROM DAVID MEDDOWS:

STAR SPILLS ON AUSTRALIA’S REAL SPY GAMES

WHY EMILY BROWNING LOVES TO PLAY THE BAD GIRL

Spending time with and learning from patients as they prepared to film Five Feet Apart forced both Sprouse, known for playing Jughead Jones on Riverdale and as one half of Disney’s The Suite Life Of Zach And Cody, and Richardson, from The Edge Of Seventeen and The Chaperone, to take stock of the simple things they had taken for granted.

“It’s almost impossible after doing a role like this, and working with patients with cystic fibrosis, to take for granted things you had taken for granted beforehand,” Sprouse tells Insider.

“In an ideal world something like touch, which is such a primary sense for all of us in our lives, is something that we don’t take for granted when it’s so necessary to the way most of us form romantic and platonic relationships.”

Haley Lu Richardson and Cole Sprouse in a scene from Five Feet Apart.

The pair spent valuable time with young CF campaigner and YouTuber Claire Wineland. The 21-year-old was born with the disease and tragically died in August last year from complications following a lung transplant.

Wineland had a profound effect on the young actors, especially Richardson.

“She was probably one of the wisest people I’ve ever met in my life even though she had only just turned 21,” Richardson says.

“I think because she had accepted her own mortality at such a young age, and was face-to-face with that her whole life, it affected her in a way where she almost surrendered every moment and I think that made her wiser.”

Haley Lu Richardson and Cole Sprouse behind the scenes on Five Feet Apart.

Richardson also admits that the whole experience had made her question her own mortality and take a step back from the frantic world that could often mean she had no time to evaluate and appreciate what she had.

“As young people who are healthy for the most part, me included, I kind of feel like I’m immortal all the time and this is something that is really grounding and makes you appreciate the moment more,” she says.

“Not to think and dwell on death and your mortality, but to be able to know what’s going to happen in life is going to happen and have the wisdom to accept that.”

When the trailer for the movie first dropped last year, some in the cystic fibrosis community were outraged. The six feet rule is such a vital guideline that any hint of glorifying a change from that — hinted at by the movie’s title — was exceptionally dangerous, they believed.

Cole Sprouse, Haley Lu Richardson and director of Five Feet Apart, Justin Baldoni, at the movie’s premiere. Picture: Frazer Harrison/Getty

Richardson remembers the doubters voicing their disapproval even earlier than the trailer but is hopeful that once they see the full movie, they will change their minds.

“I think there was hesitation before we even started filming — I remember when there was first some announcement on the internet that the movie was being made, people in the CF community were hesitant and sceptical,” Richardson says.

“But I think our hope is that when people actually see the movie, people in the CF community and people who don’t even know much about CF will see just the truth and the reality of it.”

Tackling an illness like cystic fibrosis in detail on the screen is rare and the two actors are grateful the industry is changing in a way that allows it to be told.

“I feel like when I was growing up there weren’t many things that I saw that tackled real, heavier subjects and I think that’s something that is happening more often now,” Richardson says.

“That’s a good thing because I think young people can handle learning about it and should.”

* Five Feet Apart opens on Thursday.