Sure, the gadgets and gizmos were cool, but to nail the part of youth sleuth Gertie Giggles in Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams, 10-year-old Emily Osment relied on old-fashioned advice from a certain Oscar-nominated older sibling. "My brother gives me lots of tips," she says of Haley Joel, 14, best known for his role in 1999's The Sixth Sense. "He tells me, 'Look them in the eye! Don't daydream!' It really helps me a lot."
Then again, little sis is doing just fine on her own. Since making her TV debut at 6 in an FTD ad, she has acted opposite Glenn Close in the '99 TV movie Sarah, Plain and Tall, and won roles on Friends and Touched by an Angel. As the scheming Gertie, "Emily always had this cute little smirk on her face," says Kids costar Alexa Vega, 13, "like she's doing something bad."
Nope, just acting. Osment's parents—Eugene, 43, an actor (Minority Report), and Theresa, 42, a teacher—keep her firmly grounded. "If we tried to act like big shots, my family wouldn't allow us to go out in public," she says. Not that Mom and Dad aren't proud. "I'm thrilled that my kids do what I do," says Eugene.
Now on vacation from her private school, the fourth grader is home in L.A., enjoying family movie nights and hanging with Haley and their golden retrievers Tor and Nado. As for the future, "I want to be a writer when I grow up," says Osment. And leave the acting to her big brother? "Oh no!" she says. "I couldn't give that up."
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