Reflecting on 25 years of ‘The Sixth Sense’: Haley Joel Osment’s journey

A nostalgic look back

Haley Joel Osment recently shared his reflections on the 25th anniversary of M. Night Shyamalan’s iconic film, The Sixth Sense. The movie, which premiered in 1999, not only became a cultural phenomenon but also earned Osment an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor at the tender age of 10. With a staggering $672 million in global box office revenue, it was the second-highest grossing film of that year.

Unexpected voicemails from Bruce Willis

Osment fondly recalled the unexpected voicemails he received from his co-star, Bruce Willis, in the years following the film’s release. “I heard from Bruce a lot after it came out in those subsequent years. He’d leave voicemails at the house from time to time, just checking in,” Osment shared. “He would just call out of the blue, so sometimes it was in the lead up before travel. We went to Japan together twice, if I remember correctly, to open The Sixth Sense in different cities. So he would call ahead of that, and then sometimes I would just come home from school and the answering machine would be blinking and it’d be him going like, ‘Hey, Haley Joel. Just saying hi.'”

Osment added, “I need to find those old answering tapes. I know we preserved those. I know his daughters a little bit, but I have not spoken to him since the news of his health in recent years.”

Bruce Willis’ health and retirement

In March 2022, Willis’ family announced that he had been diagnosed with aphasia, a condition that affects communication abilities, and that he would retire from acting. His condition has since progressed into frontotemporal dementia. Reflecting on his time working with Willis, Osment described the experience as “fantastic.”

“I had worked with Tom Hanks before on Forrest Gump and other big-name actors, but at that point, I was old enough to have seen a lot of Bruce’s movies, which added a lot of excitement to it. And that’s something that lasts your entire career, where you get to work with people who you’ve enjoyed watching in other things. And it made a huge impression on me because that was the first gigantic celebrity that I’d worked with at an age where I was aware of his stardom.”

The impact of working with a legend

Osment was particularly struck by Willis’ charisma and professionalism on set. “He did everything in such a cool way, and had such charisma, and was the person that you want on set setting the tone for the sort of movie we were making, because things usually revolve around the No. 1 on the call sheet,” Osment said. “It was a script that we all cared about so much and put so much effort into, and Bruce led the way on that.”

A lesson in acting

Given Osment’s admiration for Willis’ previous roles, he initially expected Willis to embody the same rugged persona he portrayed in Die Hard. However, Willis’ character in The Sixth Sense was “much more subdued and academic,” providing Osment with a valuable lesson in acting versatility.

“One of the things that makes it such a cool performance — you can sense all that beneath the surface, but it’s this guy who’s living kind of a buttoned-up life and he’s restrained and aloof,” Osment explained. “So that contrast between the twinkle you can see in Bruce’s eyes and this colder guy that he’s inhabiting was interesting.”

The legacy of ‘The Sixth Sense’

As we celebrate the 25th anniversary of The Sixth Sense, it’s clear that the film has left an indelible mark on both its audience and its cast. Osment’s reflections offer a unique glimpse into the behind-the-scenes dynamics that contributed to the movie’s enduring success.

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