Haley Joel Osment

Haley Joel Osment was born in Los Angeles, California, on April 10, 1988. His father, Eugene Osment, was an actor, and his mother, Theresa Seifert, was a teacher. His sister, Emily Osment, also became an actress. Haley started acting at the age of four, securing his first role in a Pizza Hut commercial. This early start led to his first television role in “Thunder Alley” the same year. He then appeared as Forrest Gump Jr. in the 1994 film “Forrest Gump” and had a small role in “Mixed Nuts” (1994). Throughout the 1990s, he maintained a steady presence in television with roles in “The Jeff Foxworthy Show” and the final season of “Murphy Brown.” He also made guest appearances in various TV series such as “The Larry Sanders Show,” “Walker, Texas Ranger,” “Touched by an Angel,” and “Ally McBeal.” Notable film roles during this period include “Bogus” (1996) with Whoopi Goldberg and Gérard Depardieu.

Osment achieved significant recognition in 1999 with his role as Cole Sear in “The Sixth Sense,” co-starring Bruce Willis. This performance earned him a Saturn Award for best young actor and an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, making him one of the youngest nominees in that category. He continued his success with leading roles in major films like “Pay It Forward” (2000) and Steven Spielberg’s “A.I. Artificial Intelligence” (2001), for which he received his second Saturn Award. He also provided voices for animated films such as “The Hunchback of Notre Dame II” (2002), “The Country Bears” (2002), and “The Jungle Book 2” (2003). Further expanding his career, he became the voice of Sora in the successful “Kingdom Hearts” video game series, a role he has reprised across multiple installments.

After a period of academic pursuit at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, from which he graduated with honors in 2011, Osment returned to acting with diverse projects. He appeared in the Amazon Studios comedy series “Alpha House” (2013) and later in Kevin Smith’s horror comedies “Tusk” (2014) and “Yoga Hosers” (2016). His recent work includes roles in the film “Entourage” (2015), the FX series “What We Do in the Shadows” (2019), the Hulu science fiction comedy “Future Man” (2017), and the true crime thriller “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile” (2019). His consistent work in various genres, from dramatic films to voice acting for video games and animated series, demonstrates a versatile acting career.