I just love it when a big-time child star doesn’t end up in rehab, jail or a string of whore houses. I’ve seen that story dozens of times and it always saddens me, especially when it involves someone that I am a fan of. A few years back, I thought that wunderkind Haley Joel Osment was headed for tabloid fame when he crashed his car and got busted for marijuana possession, but thankfully, the Pay It Forward star just had a wild night with some friends and needed to sleep it off. He did the smart thing and avoided the public for awhile, while waiting for a new cinematic opportunity to present itself and, finally, it has.
The Hollywood Reporter scoops that Osment will tackle Sex Ed, a comedy from MPCA, next. The film will find the 22-year-old actor playing a college graduate who dreams of teaching high school Algebra but due to budget restraints, ends up teaching sexual education, despite being a virgin. He discovers an unlikely mentor in a blues bar, a ruthless enemy in the local PTA, and a gorgeous Polish girl for whom English is a distant second language. Commercials director Isaac Feder will helm the pic from a script by Billy Kennedy.
Comedic possibilities abound, Sex Ed has great potential for Osment to explore a new avenue of entertainment. Thanks to his frighteningly mature work in Forrest Gump, The Sixth Sense and A.I. Artificial Intelligence (all done between the ages of 5 and 13), we are fully aware of his dramatic sensibilities. A light-hearted sex comedy is the perfect vehicle for the re-energized thesp to show the world what else he’s got to offer and test his star power in a new decade.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
