Since 2003, former child star Haley Joel Osment has done most of his acting off-camera, occasionally content to add the occasional videogame voice-over or alcohol-addled car accident to his resume. Recently, though, Osment has reappeared in the public eye, preparing for his Broadway (and cuss word) debut with a vigor that would put even Dakota Fanning 2.0 to shame. Now, Osment shares with MTV the next phase of his career comeback, and it involves the Hitler Youth:

Osment, at 20, is a boy no more, and the kind of roles that interest him now are the sort that would aid in the transition between cute little boy actor and serious young adult actor. So one of the next things he wants to be is a Hitler Youth — in a film called “Truth & Treason.” “It’s a true story,” Osment explained. “Some teenage members of the Hitler Youth in 1941 were listening to secret BBC broadcasts on the radio. They were picking up the BBC in Hamburg, and they were hearing all these things about the war that obviously the Nazi propaganda machine wasn’t relating to the public, and they ultimately rebelled and started a pamphlet campaign against Hitler.” Osment’s character, Helmuth Hübener, thought he could change things “not with guns but words,” and his slogans included “Hitler is a murderer” and “Hitler is the guilty one.” He was the youngest resistance fighter to be sentenced to death by Nazi Germany’s so-called “People’s Court,” the Volksgerichtshof — even though he was only 17, he was tried as an adult and executed by guillotine.

We smell a Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award Nomination! Congratulations on your artistic risk-taking, Haley; turning 20 is always a tricky age for a child star, but we're glad to see you've followed in the goose-stepped footprints of your predecessor, Neil Patrick Harris. We salute you! [Photo Credit: AP]