Emily Jordan Osment, born on March 10, 1992 in Los Angeles, California, is the daughter of actor Michael Osment and sister of Haley Joel Osment, who is most known as a child actor on the film, The Sixth Sense. Emily Osment began her acting career by appearing in numerous commercials, until she landed a film role on The Secret Life of Girls in 1999, with Eugene Levy and Linda Hamilton. Also in 1999, she starred alongside Glenn Close in the Hallmark film, Sarah Plain and Tall: Winter's End, which led her to receive a nomination for a Young Artists Award. She went on to appear on various television series including Touched by an Angel, Friends and 3rd Rock From the Sun. She also became the face of Gerti Giggles in the Spy Kids trilogy.
In 2006, Osment was cast for the role of Lilly Truscott on the Disney Channel's hit television series, Hannah Montana. In talking about being cast as Hannah's best friend, she said in an interview with The Star Scoop, "What most people don’t realize, is they think it’s automatic, like, okay, you’re Lilly. But, it isn’t like that for anything. I think I probably auditioned three of four times. It was about a year and a half ago, and I went in to read, and at that time it was just a few people in the room. The last audition, Miley Cyrus was already cast, they wanted me to read with her. They want to see how you do on your own, how you work with the other actors, and eventually what you look like, what your qualities are, if you look the part. It just took a very long time, that’s just how it works."
Osment added that she is a lot like her character, saying, "I think I’m most like Lily because I really like to do sports. She’s a really sporty girl. She likes to get on her skateboard. I’m sure she’s involved with all the extra curricular activities at her school. She’s really out there and social, and that’s sort of like me, too. And I think the way I’m sort of not like Lily, is, she has, I have to say, the coolest clothes I have ever seen. Her clothes are amazing, so I would love to have those kind of clothes."
Osment’s other works include R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour Volume One: Don’t Think About It. Released on DVD, she worked once more with her Hannah Montana co-star, Cody Linley. For her performance, she received a Young Artist Award nomination for Best Performance in a TV Movie, Miniseries or Special Leading Young Actress. She has also signed on to film Soccer Mom and Dadnapped, as well as Hannah Montana: The Movie. She has also been renowned by magazines like Parade and Forbes, which ranked her #1 on their “Hot Kid Stars to Watch” list.