Haley Wanted No Part of Potter

Haley Joel Osment never had any interest in tackling the role of Harry Potter on the big screen. In fact, the Oscar-nominated Sixth Sense star — who reportedly was the first choice of initial director Steven Spielberg to portray the teen wizard — believes that J.K. Rowling's popular book series will lose all of its magic once adapted to film.

"I never wanted to do Harry Potter. I thought it should have stayed a book," Osment tells TV Guide Online of the upcoming movie, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, to now be directed by Home Alone's Chris Columbus and star 11-year-old British actor Daniel Radcliffe. "There are some books that should be made into movies and some books that shouldn't.

" Harry Potter is 70 percent imagination," continues the 12-year-old, who has read all four of Rowling's Potter tales. "You purposely have to leave stuff out in the books, for you to fill in with your imagination, and that's what's so great about the novels — you have so much input yourself. And now, when the movie comes out, it's going to be such a stereotype for kids to think of. When they think of Harry Potter, they're going to think of what's portrayed onscreen."

And, for the record, Osment — who likely will get another shot at Oscar with Pay It Forward, opening Oct. 20 — reveals that no one ever actually approached him about playing Potter. "Nothing crossed our desk; we were never offered it, and I never wanted to do it."