Being a child star in Hollywood is no easy feat. A lot of child stars end up leaving the industry or at times face adverse situations as they grow up which at times might lead to them getting in trouble.
This is the story of Haley Joel Osment. If you think the name does not ring a bell, it might be because you have not heard it in a while. But if you see a picture of him from the days of his biggest roles, you will recognize him.
Now, Osment is opening up about his career and the paths he chose to take throughout his life. Keep reading to know more about him.
Haley Joel Osment was a roaring success after he made the movie The Sixth Sense. The movie was a box office phenomenon, and Osment received an Oscar nomination for his role.
In recent years, the actor has appeared in a lot of shows recently, including What We Do in the Shadows, The Kominsky Method, Silicon Valley, Teachers and The Boys.
Osment is not the first in his family to take up a career in Hollywood. His father, Eugene, is also an actor. However, it was not his parents who set him up with an acting career; but rather chance. He was spotted at the age of four in Ikea. He first appeared in a Pizza Hut ad in 1993. After this he was approached by the director of Forrest Gump to play the part of Forrest Gump Jr. While the part was small, it made an impression on people.
When the time came for The Sixth Sense, Shyamalan worried that that Osmen looked too ‘cherubic’ for the role but when Osment’s work ethic shone through, all doubts evaporated. Shyamalan was moved by Osment’s by vulnerability and depth, especially when he delivered his famous line, “I see dead people.” His on-screen chemistry with Bruce Willis was loved the world over.
“I’d been working with it for such a long time, the material was really ready by the time I saw him,” Osment said of the role. Osment said his father always helped him prepare for his roles, and this was not an exception. He shared, “His relationship to the craft was so resistant to doing stuff that didn’t have a purpose and wasn’t quality work. There’s always going to be plenty of opportunities to bail out for a big pay cheque … so to have someone like that, who really cared about protecting artistic value before I was old enough to understand what that meant, was such an important influence.”
Osment was nominated Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars for his role in the movie. However, he lost to Michael Caine. In his acceptance speech, Caine said, “Haley, when I saw you I thought: well, that’s me out of it.” (“Probably a better outcome than me winning,” Osment said of it.)
He shared of his parents how they always made sure Osment never went to set alone. He said, “They had a policy of never letting me go off alone on a shoot.” They also ensured his education was not affected, he said it “was something I went off and did, like going to camp.”
He also shared how his fame never affected him in school since The Sixth Sense was classified as unsuitable for children under the age of 13, as a result, he said, “Most kids in my class didn’t even see it.”
While Osment managed to keep a low profile, he shared how his younger sister Emily Osment did not have the same privilege. He said Emily, who played the role of Lily in Hannah Montana, had a tough time. He said, “That show was squarely aimed towards creating a mania in that age group. She had to deal with a lot more strange invasions of privacy, not being able to have a normal school life. And what exacerbated all of that was she had to be on social media. I resisted until I was, like, 27.”
When he was 18, Osment moved to New York. He had decided to study experimental theatre at New York University. His parents supported his decision and Osment wanted to have the college experience. “I did work that practically nobody saw for a long time, which was not a great career move – but, ultimately, was important for me to figure out whether this was what I truly wanted to do for the rest of my life,” he said.
In 2008, he debuted on Broadway played a heroin addict in a revival of David Mamet’s American Buffalo. The play garnered mixed reviews. After he graduated in 2011, he played several roles where he played villains, including an obnoxious millionaire in the film Entourage to a greasy-haired Nazi in Kevin Smith’s Yoga Hosers. “That was definitely a very fun period of playing a lot of bad guys,” he said of it. He said he was trying to leave behind the angelic childhood image he had made, he also grew a beard “to try to hide in public. That didn’t really work at all.”
However, things were not always smooth. In 2006, he made headlines. He was driving drunk and overturned his car, which led to a fine. He was also sentenced to rehabilitation and was on probation for three years. He referred to it as a “terrible mistake.” He said it had to do with being a teenager in Los Angeles, which forces people to drive everywhere. He made it clear, “It could not have had less to do with Hollywood.”
He knows about the image of childstars where in adulthood they have ‘blowups.’ However, he believes that there are those who have a better time. He said, “but I think the percentage of people having a positive experience working as children is much higher than most people imagine.” He said you just don’t hear about the child actors who end up leading normal lives, he said they “move on to something else that works for them”, or those who have such long careers that their childhood roles are overshadowed as a result.
Entertainment journalist, Tatyana Arrington had similar thoughts on Haley Joel Osment’s life. She said, “When it comes to Haley Joel Osment, I actually consider him luckier than most child stars. Aside from a DUI incident at 18, he seems to have navigated the transition from child star to adulthood quite well. In many cases, I believe it’s the parents who play a significant role in whether a child star goes off the rails.”
“Being an actor, you can never count on things being smash successes all the time. I remember having that feeling with The Sixth Sense – like, ‘It’s not always gonna be like that.’” He said, but of course, that is not always the case.
As for his early childhood success, he said in an interview, “I feel like I’m always building on it.”
We wish Haley Joel Osment the best of luck for his future! He truly has had a wonderful career as a child actor and seems to be gearing up for bigger roles in his adulthood.
