Haley Joel Osment has opened up on his relationship with his The Sixth Sense co-star Bruce Willis, who is struggling with frontotemporal dementia.
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight! at the premiere of Blink Twice, Osment was asked about his recollection of working on The Sixth Sense in the late 1990s. “My memory of it is so strong,” he shared. “It was such a challenging role and another intense experience. I remember me and my dad going to a newsstand the weekend it came out to check the newspaper to see what the numbers were,” he recalled. “So it’s a different time.”
Osment was then asked about Bruce Willis, and the memories he has of their time working together. Osment replied saying that he holds those memories “very close” to him: “It was so wonderful working with him and, I mean, I was so grateful to have had that experience and to meet this guy who was the epitome of a movie star and a really nice person.”
Haley Joel Osment And Bruce Willis in ‘The Sixth Sense’. Credit: Getty Images
In March, during an appearance on The Adam Carolla Show, Osment recalled that Willis would regularly leave supportive messages on his family’s answering machine. “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.
In February 2023, Willis’ family announced that the actor’s aphasia condition – affecting his cognitive abilities and forcing him into retirement – had developed into frontotemporal dementia (FTD).
“We now have a more specific diagnosis: frontotemporal dementia,” Willis’ family wrote in a statement with the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration. “Unfortunately, challenges with communication are just one symptom of the disease Bruce faces. While this is painful, it is a relief to finally have a clear diagnosis.”
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