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Boy
Meets World
CAN HALEY JOEL OSMENT SURVIVE THE CHILD
ACTOR SYNDROME?
Funny
thing about kids--they tend to grow up.
Which is exactly what's happening with
Haley Joel Osment, best known as the boy
who saw dead people in The Sixth Sense.
PREMIERE talks to the 15-year-old actor
about his role in Secondhand Lions (September
26), a coming-of-age tale also starring
Michael Caine and Robert Duvall.
PREMIERE: Tell us about your character.
Walter is a boy who never knew his father.
He's been raised by his mother, who hates
taking care of him because she only has
her own interests in mind. So when she
drops him off with her two uncles, it's
a chance for Walter to learn how to be
a man.
Your two last films were Jungle Book
2 and The Country Bears, and now you have
Secondhand Lions. What's up with all the
animals?
It's an odd coincidence, but it makes
my résumé colorful.
The next few years could determine
your future career. What's the game plan?
It's challenging to find roles that age
with me, characters who grow up as I grow
up. So I'm going to do characters I've
never done before.
Successful child actors can become
train wrecks in their teens. How do you
keep from becoming the next Macaulay Culkin?
Mainly it's been my parents. They've kept
my head on my shoulders.
So no wedding plans in the works?
[laughs] Not right now.
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