Bruce Willis's Sweet Relationship With Haley Joel Osment After Filming The Sixth Sense

When it comes to A-list stars, you know they don't get much bigger than Bruce Willis. His vast filmography includes huge hits like "Pulp Fiction," "Die Hard," "The Fifth Element," and, of course, 1999's "The Sixth Sense." In M. Night Shyamalan's iconic, game-changing thriller, Willis starred opposite a then 10-year-old Haley Joel Osment. Osment, who made his feature film debut in "Forrest Gump," received an Academy Award nomination for his work in "The Sixth Sense." What's more, he also formed a bond with Willis behind the scenes. 

In a September 2024 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Osment reflected on what it was like acting opposite a powerhouse like Willis. "[H]e did everything in such a cool way, and had such charisma, and was the person that you want on set setting the tone for the sort of movie we were making, because things usually revolve around the No. 1 on the call sheet," he said. Osment also noted that Willis would check on him after the movie came out, a gesture that clearly meant a lot to the former child actor.

Much has been said about the pitfalls of child stardom, but fortunately, early 2000s child star Haley Joel Osment's parents provided a strong support system for the young actor. What's more, superstar Bruce Willis happened to be in his corner too. After "The Sixth Sense" made Osment a household name, Willis would reach out to see how he was doing. "He'd leave voicemails at the house from time to time, just checking in," Osment told Entertainment Weekly. "We went to Japan together twice, if I remember correctly, to open 'Sixth Sense' in different cities. So he would call ahead of that, and then sometimes I would just come home from school and the answering machine would be blinking and it'd be him going like, 'Hey, Haley Joel. Just saying hi.'" 

Osment went on to share that Willis' check-ins would come for years after "The Sixth Sense." He added that he hadn't heard from the action movie icon since he received his aphasia and frontotemporal dementia diagnoses. "I know his daughters a little bit, but I have not spoken to him since the news of his health in recent years," he said. 

In the wake of Willis' devastating health news, Osment has opened up in interviews and on social media about how special it was to work with him at such a young age. As Osment wrote on Instagram in March 2022, "I am so grateful for what I got to witness firsthand." Turns out, their post-movie dynamic has been nothing short of heartwarming, too.