I also took a look at Haley Joel Osmet (b. 1988) as I was writing my last post, on Macaulay Culkin. Osmet may have fared a bit better than Culkin, but only time will tell.
Osmet began his career as many child actors do, in commercials. His first movie was Forrest Gump (1994) where he played the son of Gump, played by Tom Hanks. This was a big movie, and a good break for Osmet. If you get the Gump DVD with extra features, it includes part of Osmet's screen test. It is easy to see why he became a popular young actor.
Quite a few movies and TV series' followed, until he got his real breakout role, The Sixth Sense in 1999. Haley's performance in the M. Night Shyamalan (b. 1970) film is incredible. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his effort. It is not easy to upstage Bruce Willis (b. 1955), but I think most people remember Osmet as the star of this film.
In a similar role, he starred in the 2000 film, Pay It Forward. He exudes a sad appearance, with the look of his eyes and a slightly odd characteristic in his voice. He was perfectly cast again, and his co-stars, Helen Hunt (b. 1963) and Kevin Spacey (b. 1959), also have the necessary qualities to make this movie work without trying to take anything away from Osmet. It was not a movie about successful people, it was about regular people and their struggles to just get through life.
The next year he has a starring role in Steven Spielberg's A.I. Artificial Intelligence. Just barely a teenager, Haley has already had a dream career. He has also had quite a few voice-over roles for animated films and video games. The next ten years of work bring his total title count to about 45 roles.
IMDb now lists, in pre-production, a comedy called Sex Ed, due to be released later this year. Osmet is now in his twenties. Is he trying to break out of his child actor cage? As with many child actors, he has had some incidents in his life that he probably regrets. I hope he finds his place in the entertainment industry, and I wish him all the best.
Showing posts with label Macaulay Culkin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Macaulay Culkin. Show all posts
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Newer Child Stars
I have written in previous posts about some child stars in the earlier years of moviedom. (Is that a word?) I bumped into a pretty bad movie last weekend called Sex and Breakfast (2007) starring...are you ready?...Macaulay Culkin (b. 1980). The movie stunk (That IS a word!) but it got me thinking about Culkin's career and the turns it has taken since his early days as a child star.
Culkin's fifth movie made him famous. He starred in Home Alone (1990) when he was just ten years old. That movie was a hit and grossed $235 million in the USA. The sequel released two years later called Home Alone 2: Lost in New York did almost as well.
He was also in Uncle Buck (1989) and My Girl (1991). Those four movies established him as an actor in demand. Of course, his voice hadn't changed yet.
More starring roles followed. The Good Son (1993), The Pagemaster (1994) and the title role in Richie Rich (1994). But now he's a teenager and the cute kid roles won't work anymore. And I don't think he is much of a hunk that the teenage girls will line up at the theaters to see, either.
Culkin was basically burned out at age 14, but he was also very rich from his success. He took a seven year break from acting, partly due to a lengthy divorce battle by his parents. Back in movies in 2003, I suppose he was trying to change his image with something more adult. Enter Sex and Breakfast in 2007.
This movie had no plot, but it did put two young couples in a sexual situation where they are contemplating having a group sex encounter to help solve their various personal dilemmas. Don't bother seeing it, because I just gave you all the details. It was also interesting that it was rated R for sexual situations, but contained no nudity.
The bright spot was the two women, played by Eliza Dushku (b. 1980) and Alexis Dziena (b. 1984). Dushku played the daughter of Arnold Schwarzenneger in True Lies (1994), and has 38 roles to her credit. Dziena has 24 roles listed so far. Both are charming and beautiful, and they can act. Culkin just seemed to be out of place.
I think Macaulay Culkin with 28 titles on IMDb, will forever be a Bit Actor who was once famous as a child star.
Culkin's fifth movie made him famous. He starred in Home Alone (1990) when he was just ten years old. That movie was a hit and grossed $235 million in the USA. The sequel released two years later called Home Alone 2: Lost in New York did almost as well.
He was also in Uncle Buck (1989) and My Girl (1991). Those four movies established him as an actor in demand. Of course, his voice hadn't changed yet.
More starring roles followed. The Good Son (1993), The Pagemaster (1994) and the title role in Richie Rich (1994). But now he's a teenager and the cute kid roles won't work anymore. And I don't think he is much of a hunk that the teenage girls will line up at the theaters to see, either.
Culkin was basically burned out at age 14, but he was also very rich from his success. He took a seven year break from acting, partly due to a lengthy divorce battle by his parents. Back in movies in 2003, I suppose he was trying to change his image with something more adult. Enter Sex and Breakfast in 2007.
This movie had no plot, but it did put two young couples in a sexual situation where they are contemplating having a group sex encounter to help solve their various personal dilemmas. Don't bother seeing it, because I just gave you all the details. It was also interesting that it was rated R for sexual situations, but contained no nudity.
The bright spot was the two women, played by Eliza Dushku (b. 1980) and Alexis Dziena (b. 1984). Dushku played the daughter of Arnold Schwarzenneger in True Lies (1994), and has 38 roles to her credit. Dziena has 24 roles listed so far. Both are charming and beautiful, and they can act. Culkin just seemed to be out of place.
I think Macaulay Culkin with 28 titles on IMDb, will forever be a Bit Actor who was once famous as a child star.
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