'Someone I've Always Looked Up to': What Haley Joel Osment Has Said About Working with Bruce Willis on “The Sixth Sense”

Haley Joel Osment was only 10 years old when he costarred in the film with Bruce Willis

Twenty-five years ago, 10-year-old Haley Joel Osment uttered what would become one of the most quoted lines in cinema history: "I see dead people."

The pre-teen starred opposite Bruce Willis in 1999's The Sixth Sense and instantly would roll out one of the most impressive careers in Hollywood. Of course, Willis, an already recognizable name at the time, would go on to become one of the biggest action movie stars ever with blockbuster hits such as The Kid, Perfect Stranger and the Die Hard franchise.

Even though Willis and Osment went their separate ways after meeting on the M. Night Shyamalan-directed film, it seems Willis left quite the impression on a young Osment.

As we commemorate the 25th anniversary of The Sixth Sense, here are some memories Osment has shared about his time working with Bruce Willis over the years.

When He Revealed a Sweet Anecdote About Their Past

As big a movie star as he was, Willis wasn't above leaving a good ole voice message back in the day.

While on the The Adam Carolla Show in March 2024, Osment revealed that even though he hadn't spoken to Willis in a while, one of his fondest memories was that of him leaving voice messages on his phone back in the day.

"He would leave voice messages at our family home when I was in elementary school and high school on this Nickelodeon phone we used to have," Osment said, with a chuckle.

When He Expressed His Admiration

A day after Willis' family revealed the beloved actor would be retiring from acting because of his aphasia diagnosis, Osment took to social media to express his "respect and deep admiration" for the veteran actor.

"It's been difficult to find the right words for someone I've always looked up to — first on the big screen, and then by some wild stroke of luck, in person," Osment said at the time.

"I am so grateful for what I got to witness firsthand, and for the enormous body of work he built for us to enjoy for years and years to come," Osment added. "I just wanted to express the respect and deep admiration I have for Bruce and his family as they move forward with the courage and high spirits that have always defined them."

When He Jokingly Revealed a Not-So-Fond Memory

During the American Cinematheque Tribute to Bruce Willis, which took place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in 2000, Osment paid tribute to his former costar by revealing the hilarious way he was able to conjure up all those emotions in The Sixth Sense.

Apparently, there was a day on set where Willis got ice cream for everyone who was around — except Osment, because, "I was working. I was doing a scene with Bruce and of course, I had to keep working and I didn't get any," he said, pretending to be tearing up.

"People ask me how I did all of those crying scenes, well ..." he joked.

When They Celebrated Each Other

Clearly, the two had great rapport and often joked around. During an interview with PEOPLE back in 1999, Willis put Osment "with some of the best adult actors I've ever worked with."

"Right back at ya," 11-year-old Osment quipped.

Asked what he thought about working with Willis, he simply had this to say, "I thought, cool, Bruce Willis. Then I met him, and he was so professional."

When He Dished on Willis' Work Ethic

During a promotional interview for The Sixth Sense with WFAA, Osment once again echoed the same sentiment, telling the TV station, "Bruce is so dedicated and he [was] just working so hard on the script and on every scene he was in and every line."

Osment also revealed that the Die Hard star was in the trenches with everybody else.

"For the first week before we started shooting Philadelphia in early September, the whole cast and the director, Night, were in this room and we were just always analyzing the script and just getting down everything perfect, understanding what was going on in that exact moment so that we could have a smooth job on the script [once] we started shooting."

When He Revealed Willis' Lighter Side

In a separate interview from the same press junket, Osment also revealed that while Willis was super serious about the work, he always found the balance.

"After being so intense all day and we had really deep scenes, really heavy, he always was good about lightening things up and keeping everybody's spirits up. That helped a lot."

When He Told Everyone About Willis' Secret Talent

Because he was 10 years old, Osment's experience on set would inherently be different than everyone else's. However, every now and again, he got to join in some of the festivities.

"One thing I was thinking about is going to set on a Monday — I was 10 so I didn't go to the parties on the weekend — but Bruce had DJ-ed a cast party and Night [came up to him] and was like, 'When you played that one track that was so great,' " he recalled to AM to DM by Buzzfeed News, laughing. "So that's my memory of The Sixth Sense. Just Bruce DJ-ing."

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