In 1994, Forrest Gump was one of the three biggest films of the year and some would argue it was one of the biggest films of the decade with Haley Joel Osment playing the minor role of Forrest Gump Jr., the titular character’s child. His performance in the film opened doors for him in the acting industry and he has gone on to have a successful career as an actor. However, Osment’s biggest role to date is in another film he appeared in five years after – The Sixth Sense. To learn more about Haley Joel Osment and know about his life after his breakthrough performance in The Sixth Sense, keep reading.
Background and Career Trajectory
Haley Joel Osment was born on the 10th of April, 1988 in Los Angeles to Theresa Seifert and Michael Eugene Osment as the first of two children. His mother, Theresa, worked as a teacher while his father is an actor. His younger sister is Emily Osment who also works as an actress. For his university degree, Haley studied at the prestigious Tisch School of the Arts which is about the only information made available about his educational background.
Osment’s career in acting began when he was four; he had met a talent scout who called him for an audition and a few days after, he signed up to join the talent agency. His first performance was in a Pizza Hut commercial and that performance landed him a role on the television show, Thunder Alley. In the same year, Osment had the opportunity to play Forrest Gump Jr. in the film Forrest Gump, a performance that earned him an award nomination from the Young Artist Award body. Moving on, Osment bagged a number of performances but they were mostly in television shows. He had small roles in a couple of films; Bogus was one of the films he acted in during the early period of his career. In Bogus, he played Albert Franklin and got nominated for another award.
By the end of the decade in 1999, Haley Joel Osment’s career soared. He got cast in the M. Night Shymalan film, The Sixth Sense. Osment was cast alongside Bruce Willis and he played Cole Sear, a young boy who communicated with dead spirits who had unattended business with the living. His character helped these dead people get closure and finally rest in peace. For playing Sear, Osment was nominated for more ten awards which included a Golden Globe, Academy Award and a Screen Actors Guild award. The Saturn award was one of the few awards he won for his performance. This is arguably the most memorable performance in his entire career.
Haley Joel Osment’s Career Post Since Sixth Sense
After co-starring in The Sixth Sense, more filmmakers were interested in casting Osment him in their films, which led to him getting multiple roles in different films and television shows as well and accruing up to $6 million in net worth.
Pay It Forward is another major production he was part of, playing the character of Trevor McKinney. The movie also featured Helen Hunt and Kevin Spacey. Since appearing in The Sixth Sense, Haley Joel Osment has gone on to build a reputation of being one of the youngest professional actors who is doing as much work as he was and making huge strides in the film industry.
In the time that has followed, Osment has gone to college. He attended the Tisch School of the Arts which is affiliated with New York University where he graduated in 2011 and has continued to build his career as an actor. Osment’s acting is not limited to the big screen as he also continues to work on television; his acting involves voice acting as well. In the 2003 film, Jungle Book 2, he voiced the character of Mowgli. Silicon Valley, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, and The Kominsky Method are some of his most recent projects.
Beyond acting, Osment is an avid golf player, a sport he has participated in since he was seven. It appears that acting is not Haley Joel’s only artistic talent as he plays two musical instruments – the guitar and piano – and he currently lives in the state of New York.
