Haley Joel Osment credits past projects such as The Sixth Sense for helping prepare him for films with surprising revelations — such as his upcoming movie Blink Twice.
“It’s not too difficult for me [not to give major plot points away]. I do get paranoid because I enjoy talking about this stuff that I’m going to accidentally let something slip,” Osment, 36, exclusively shared in the newest issue of Us Weekly about being intentionally vague about the premise of Blink Twice. “You never want to be the person that does that. So I’m very used to talking about movies in this way.”
Osment noted that one of his first film roles relied on a major reveal not getting out beforehand.
“It’s ironic because one of the first movies I did had one of the biggest spoilers ever. And when that was coming out, there [were] no studio guidelines,” he recalled about 1999’s The Sixth Sense. “[We didn’t] tell anybody what happened because we had no idea what success it would have at the box office.”
It also helped that the internet was not as “omnipresent of force as it is today,” Osment added. “It really wasn’t as big a concern as everything is now. Even when you audition for things, you’re supposed to sign an NDA. So it’s a very different world.”
The Sixth Sense, which was directed by M. Night Shyamalan, centered on a child psychologist Malcolm (Bruce Willis) whose patient Cole (Osment) claimed he could see and talk to the dead. The big twist — spoiler alert — turned out to be that Malcolm was dead the whole time.
“I remember that shoot so well in great detail with a lot of the scenes because it was a very challenging character to play,” Osment shared with Us. “Also doing something at that age, it really gets ingrained in your memory. Your first time making a movie with a giant movie star like Bruce Willis. The movies and culture are in a different place now, but I feel lucky that I got to be on set back in the day where we were using real film and Bruce [was] at the height of his powers and M. Night was just starting out.”
Osment reflected on how the cast and the crew’s hard work ultimately paid off with The Sixth Sense.
“It’s a really strong memory in my mind. The work that we did on that and all these different people coming together and making one project because we believed in the script. That’s a feeling that I definitely want to direct things and that’s something that I’m going to chase,” he said about his plans for his career going forward.
After three decades in the industry, Osment has used his experience from projects such as The Sixth Sense to shape how he views new opportunities. Blink Twice is a perfect example since it also relies on a big reveal which hasn’t been shared with movie fans.
Zoë Kravitz‘s directorial debut, which is out in theaters on August 23, follows a group of people who enjoy a tropical getaway to a private island — until things start getting weird. Based on the official trailer, the main characters must figure out why they are forgetting key moments from their trip — and Osment is excited to see the response once it is revealed for viewers on the big screen.
“Even if it’s not a movie or a TV show with what we would think of as twists or spoilers, I really just think my best experiences seeing movies in the theater is when I really didn’t know a whole lot about them,” he explained. “It’s way more fun when you haven’t had things pre-digested for it. There’s thousands of reviews or comments that you can come across without even trying online before you even get to see a movie. I think it takes away from the experience.”
Osment pointed out that not every person will react the exact same way to key movie and TV moments.
“People can have really unique responses. And I really think we’re going to see it with Blink Twice too. Everybody can have a really different reaction to a film and interpret it a different way,” he continued. “As much as possible, I like to preserve people’s ability to go and see something fresh like that. Because even if you think that you can have your own reaction to a movie, it changes you if you’ve read a bunch of reviews and people’s interpretations of things when it finally flashes on the screen.”
While Blink Twice‘s major plot points remain under lock and key, Osment hinted that there’s more than meets the eye.
“People are going to have the rug pulled out from under them,” he teased. “It’s very, very interesting to see the sort of conversation that’s going to be had after people see it. And it’s been nice because pretty much everybody who has seen it so far has gone in blind to everything. It’s been very interesting seeing people get caught up in the roller-coaster ride that is this movie.”
Osment praised Kravitz’s ability to visually execute her vision.
“I had to keep checking — particularly going into interviews now — to make sure this was her first movie, right? Because it really didn’t seem like that,” he admitted. “Obviously she’s had years and years of experience on set as an actor. That’s one of the unique and great advantages she has personally because you come to this having experienced being an actor on set. She has a good understanding of what actors need and what she needed to do as a director to make everybody harmonized together and feel comfortable on set.”
Kravitz’s skills extended beyond the behind the scenes aspects, Osment noted, “For the performances, she just did a really great job of shaping us into a team. Everybody has their own individual style of working and they all just interlocked perfectly to create this incredible ensemble feeling. I loved working with her. She just had a very calm and capable demeanor throughout. And when the leader is like that, it makes everybody else have a lot less stress.”
In addition to Kravitz behind the camera, Osment, 35, costars in the movie with Channing Tatum, Naomi Ackie, Christian Slater, Simon Rex, Adria Arjona, Alia Shawkat, Geena Davis and Kyle MacLachlan.
“Everybody used the word summer camp a lot because we all went and lived together in this hundreds of years old hacienda in the middle of the jungle [while filming],” Osment said. “It really bonded us together really tightly as a group. It’s a very intense movie and it made it a lot easier to go through all those experiences because we all trusted each other and Zoë made it such a safe environment on set.”
Osment enjoyed getting to be in a project where everyone “genuinely enjoyed” each other’s company, adding, “It was just spending a lot of time hanging out together. I just think that really comes through on screen that it really feels like these people have a comfort with each other.”
Blink Twice hits theaters Friday, August 23.
For more from Us‘ exclusive interview with Osment, watch the video above and pick up the new issue of Us Weekly, on stands now.