Hey, Hey It's Saturday Australian Interview
Daryl Somers: Haley, first off, congratulations on a fantastic movie and a wonderful performance by yourself.
Haley Joel Osment: Thank you.
DS: Is it all a little bit overwhelming for you, so far? You’ve had a movie that’s been so successful, you’ve been to Japan, Italy, France, so many other places to promote the movie. Is it all getting too much?
HJO: It’s not too much. I..I don’t think it’s changed anything really close to home. The only thing that’s been different is doing the press tours like you’ve been talking about and doing all kinds of things to promote Sixth Sense and getting recognized a bit more, and talking to people, but it’s not a nuisance or anything, everybody’s really nice.
DS: How have your friends taken the movie? Are they excited for you?
HJO: They’re very excited. My very close friends are very, very, very excited. Some of them are very, very, very scared.
DS: What about when you were doing the movie? Were there parts of it where you got a little bit scared?
HJO: When you get behind the scenes of it, it takes away a lot of fear. So I was mainly trying to get scared. I wanted to get scared instead of getting scared without, uh, trying to. I don’t think I was scared during the shooting. It was all just acting.
DS: Yes, it was all just acting, but you’re so good at it. And I think that’s what amazes so many people. Even the director was saying there was one moment where you had to walk into the kitchen, trembling. And before he yelled action, he could hear this thumping going on. He thought, “I wonder what that was” and several takes later, he realized it was you behind the set throwing yourself against the wall. Just to sort of prepare yourself.
HJO: Well, acting is all believing. So when I was in the hallway, I was trying to get myself overwhelmed in real life and I was putting myself into the character’s shoes and really getting myself shaken up from a vision I had just saw from the scene we were doing. And I guess it was just out of instinct. Nothing I had planned to do, but I just started throwing myself at the stage, stage wall. I wasn’t hurt, it was just a fake wall, but I think that was something that helped me get into the mood to do the scene.
DS: Did you have a lot of discussion with how you would play the stage with Bruce Willis and Toni Collette?
HJO: Well, about two weeks before we started shooting we got to Philadelphia and all the cast were there and we had script readings and script analyzes in the building we were going to be shooting in. And every day we would sit in this one room and go through the script line by line, scene by scene. And Bruce Willis and Toni Collette and everybody were always on their feet. Night was telling everyone how he envisioned the scenes. Everybody would tell the feelings they first got from all the parts of the movie. And I think all the analysis and getting ready to be in a movie with people and really getting to know them and working up a relationship, especially with me and Toni Collette cause mother and son. We really had to have a good relationship cause really before he meets Malcolm, Cole’s only person who really loves and cares for him is his mom.
DS: You’re amazingly analytical for someone of eleven years of age. It’s like talking to a 44-year-old midget from where I stand. Can I see you, in say, 50, 60 years sitting here, not necessarily talking to me, I don’t think I’ll be here, but talking to someone about another movie? Is acting what you’re really looking forward to? Is that your whole future?
HJO: I will be acting for the rest of my life. I will go to college and I will study other careers, but I’ll always be alongside acting. That’s something I want to do for the rest of my life.
DS: You must be really excited because they’re talking about an Oscar for you. Possibly an Oscar nomination for your work in The Sixth Sense. Does that frighten you a little?
HJO: It doesn’t frighten me. I am excited to be put up there with actors and directors and all types of people from the acting field. I am not counting on anything. It would be just..just fantastic to be put up there with them, but I know there is going to be other performances, other people who will do a, do a role as good or better than I did and give maybe a more convincing performance.
DS: Well, look Haley, it’s been wonderful chatting with you and I want to wish you all the best for the future.
HJO: Oh, thank you.
DS: I’m sure your future is assured anyway and with all your projects and I hope one day you’ll make a trip down to Australia, either for a vacation or to make a movie down here.
HJO: Yeah, I’d be glad to come.
DS: From all of us down here, congratulations once again on a fine performance in the movie.
HJO: Oh, thank you. Nice talking to you.
DS: Thanks, Haley.
HJO: All right, bye.
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The Sixth Sense