Haley Joel Osment (born April 10, 1988) is an American actor. After a series of roles in television and film during the 1990s, including a small part in Forrest Gump playing the title character’s son, Osment rose to fame with his performance as Cole Sear in M. Night Shyamalan’s 1999 thriller, The Sixth Sense. Among other honors, he received an Academy Award nomination as best supporting actor for his role in the film. Osment subsequently appeared in leading roles in several high-profile Hollywood movies; including Pay It Forward and A.I. Recently, he made his Broadway debut in a revival of American Buffalo, co-starring with John Leguizamo, and Cedric the Entertainer.

Haley Joel Osment was born in Los Angeles, California; the son of Theresa Osment (née Seifert), a teacher, and Michael Eugene Osment, a theater and film actor, both natives of Alabama. He has one sister, four years his junior, actress and singer-songwriter Emily Osment. Osment’s parents described his childhood as a “good old-fashioned Southern upbringing,” and his father said that when Osment was learning to speak, he deliberately avoided using baby talk when communicating with his son.

Raised as a Catholic, Osment was a straight-A student at Flintridge Preparatory School in La Cañada, California. As a child, he was talented in many sports, including basketball, football, wrestling, and golf.