Osment takes on a grown-up role in the movie "Sassy Pants." He plays the much younger boyfriend of a gay man who's re-connecting with his daughter.
"I read it and agreed to do it the same day," said Osment. "Because it's one of those characters where you can see exactly what you want to do with it, you know, right after reading it the first time, and aside from that, it being a role that I certainly haven't done anything similar to before."
Haley received much attention, including an Oscar nomination, for the 1999 film "The Sixth Sense."
He made several other studio films after that, then pursued mostly voice-acting work while attending New York University. The joy of creating a character lured him back to the big screen.
"When you put on the character's costume and you get into his head it sort of gives you this power to be somebody that you aren't usually in day-to-day life, and I think that's what keeps actors in the game is that, how fun that is, and how exciting that is," said Osment.
Coley Sohn, who wrote and directed "Sassy Pants," says she can't believe her idea has finally come to life.
"Some things turned out a lot better than anticipated," said Sohn. "Some things I thought, 'This is going to be in the trailer,' didn't even end up in the movie, so it was very seat-of-our-pants, but it worked, somehow it stuck."
Osment enjoyed discovering the special bond that comes with making independent films.
"It was a project where we didn't have a lot of money but we did have a lot of really motivated people and just this really colorful thing we got to put together, and that's everything you want out of the experience," said Osment.
