Haley Joel Osment is 18 today.
Actually, I should have just said Haley Osment; now that he’s of age, he’s dropping the middle name. Doesn’t need it for recognition any more.
A lot has happened in seven years, eh? For one thing, his voice has changed, and I mean changed; “I see dead people” is now more like “This is CNN.” Hasn’t lost his looks, IMO, anyway, and his talent has only been refined. Don’t know about his college status, but I daresay if he still has his heart set on Yale, he’ll be there. Intellectual almost to the point of being a Doper. No scandals, no corruption, no fall from grace.
A few years back, Boss and I were discussing the probability of some kid actor in a film he was working on achieving HJO status. Boss’ take on it was, “That kid may turn out to be successful, but he’ll never be like Haley Joel. What happened with him was just…his DNA, stuff he took in subliminally when he was an infant, the planets being in the right alignment, something, I dunno. You can’t create an actor like that. You can’t create a person like that. It just happens, once in a generation, like Steven J. Hawking was once in a generation for science.”
Maybe a bit overstated, but I agree on the basic point. Good parenting, good directing and good teaching contributed to Haley becoming the fine young man he now is. But the raw materials were top-notch to begin with.
All the best, Haley. Enjoy your birthday. don’t forget to register to vote, and pleeeeease, if alcohol is available, don’t take it if you’re going to drive! Enjoy your time at college, too, but don’t forget to come back and amaze us as a grownup!
