By Tara Salvati
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Star Wars
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Luke Skywalker Wasn't The Only Jedi Working With The Rebels In The Original Trilogy
Why Did Rey Bury The Two Lightsabers In Rise Of Skywalker?
Summary
- Hayden Christensen has been portraying Anakin Skywalker since 2002, with his most recent appearance taking place in 2023.
- Christensen's first appearances as Anakin were highly criticized in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, but he has since become an appreciated Star Wars legend.
- Christensen has returned to the role in Star Wars TV shows, this time being met with the praise he's always deserved.
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Anakin Skywalker and his alter ego Darth Vader are one of the most iconic characters in cinematic history, and the person who has played the character the most in Star Wars is Hayden Christensen. Christensen was originally brought in to play a young Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones after taking over the role from Jake Lloyd. Christensen has since continued to play Anakin Skywalker and joined the impressive roster of Darth Vader actors in multiple movies and television projects over the course of over 20 years.
Christensen’s portrayal of the Chosen One was originally met with much criticism, with many thinking his voice was devoid of much expression and that his version of Anakin came off as whiny. While some of this criticism should fall on the script and dialogue written by George Lucas, Christensen took the brunt of the heat. Because of this, Christensen took on very few projects over the next 15 years. Over time, hate for the Star Wars prequels and Christensen stopped, and now the beloved actor continues to return to the franchise. Here's how old Christensen is in each of his Star Wars appearances.
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What's the best way to watch Star Wars? Here's everything you need to know to watch in release or timeline order, and how to include the TV shows.
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5 Hayden Christensen Was 20 Years Old In Attack Of The Clones
Release Date: May 16, 2002
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones
- Release Date
- May 16, 2002
- Director
- George Lucas
- Cast
- Ewan McGregor , Hayden Christensen , Natalie Portman , Ian McDiarmid , Samuel L. Jackson , Christopher Lee , Anthony Daniels , Kenny Baker , Frank Oz , Temuera Morrison , Ahmed Best , Daniel Logan
- Writers
- George Lucas , Jonathan Hales
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Hayden Christensen stepped into the role of Anakin Skywalker in 2002 for the second installment of the Star Wars prequel trilogy. Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones showed the blooming romance between Anakin and Senator Padmé Amidala, from their reunion to their secret wedding. Christensen recalls his Anakin casting story, saying that he had just graduated from high school and was living in a Vancouver apartment with his friend. Christensen was about 18 years old during Attack of the Clones’ principal photography, which took place between June and September 2000.
One of the biggest flaws of Attack of the Clones was that it focused a little too much on foreshadowing Anakin’s fall to the dark side and not his heroics. Anakin was good to his core, which is why Luke Skywalker was able to redeem him in Return of the Jedi, but the Star Wars prequels didn’t show that nearly as much as they should’ve. Much of the criticism of the movie falls on Christensen, but aspects of the movie have been improved with different projects that have come out in the 20 years since Attack of the Clones premiered.
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4 Hayden Christensen Was 23 Years Old In Revenge Of The Sith
Release Date: May 19, 2005
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
- Release Date
- May 19, 2005
- Director
- George Lucas
- Cast
- Ewan McGregor , Natalie Portman , Hayden Christensen , Ian McDiarmid , Samuel L. Jackson , Christopher Lee , Anthony Daniels , Kenny Baker , Frank Oz , Ahmed Best , Temuera Morrison
- Writers
- George Lucas , John Ostrander , Jan Duursema
Christensen was able to bring to life the moments that caused Anakin Skywalker's fall to the dark side in 2005’s Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. While many still associate the movie with the many memes that have been created from it, it’s genuinely a good movie that shows the tragic fall of a hero. Principal photography took place between June and September 2003, with additional photography (and likely reshoots) happening between August 2004 and January 2005. This would’ve made Christensen about 21 years old for the majority of filming Revenge of the Sith.
Because three years had passed in-universe, and Anakin Skywalker was a general fighting a war, George Lucas had Christensen bulk up for his second stint as Anakin Skywalker. Not only did it add credibility to the fact that years had passed, but it also showed maturity and added to Skywalker’s intimidating frame. Revenge of the Sith also shows Christensen excelling at expressing emotion through his facial expressions, despite the dialogue still being clunky and awkward. Many criticisms about Anakin’s prequel-era arc would be silenced when the character was fleshed out in the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars television show.
3 Hayden Christensen Made A Cameo In The Rise of Skywalker At 37 Years Old
Release Date: December 20, 2019
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Star Wars: Episode IX- The Rise of Skywalker
- Release Date
- December 20, 2019
- Director
- J.J. Abrams
- Cast
- Carrie Fisher , Oscar Isaac , Anthony Daniels , Joonas Suotamo , Mark Hamill , Adam Driver , Ian McDiarmid , Kelly Marie Tran , Billie Lourd , Keri Russell , Richard E. Grant , Daisy Ridley , Lupita Nyong'o , Dominic Monaghan , John Boyega , Domhnall Gleeson , Billy Dee Williams , Naomi Ackie
- Writers
- Chris Terrio , J.J. Abrams
It was surprising when after nearly 15 years, Hayden Christensen returned to Star Wars to make a vocal cameo in the final act of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Anakin Skywalker’s voice returned as part of the Jedi voice cameos, which ultimately gave Rey the strength to finally defeat Emperor Palpatine. Other voices included cameos from fellow prequel-era characters like Obi-Wan Kenobi, Aayla Secura, Mace Windu, and Yoda. This wouldn’t be Christensen’s only vocal cameo. Archival audio was used to mix Christensen’s voice with Matt Lanter’s—who voices Anakin in animated projects—for The Clone Wars season 7, episode 11 "Shattered."
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2 Christensen Was 40 Years Old When He Donned The Vader Suit In Obi-Wan Kenobi
Release Date: May 27, 2022
Obi-Wan Kenobi
- Release Date
- May 27, 2022
- Directors
- Deborah Chow
- Cast
- Bonnie Piesse , Hayden Christensen , Moses Ingram , O'Shea Jackson Jr. , Simone Kessell , Ewan McGregor , Grant Feely , Joel Edgerton , Maya Erskine , Benny Safdie , Indira Varma , Marisé Álvarez , Sung Kang , Rupert Friend , Kumail Nanjiani
- Writers
- Joby Harold , Hossein Amini , Stuart Beattie , Hannah Friedman , Andrew Stanton
- Seasons
- 1
- Streaming Service(s)
- Disney
Nearly 20 years after leaving behind the role of Anakin Skywalker, Hayden Christensen returned to Star Wars to reprise the role and help fill in some of the Star Wars timeline between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. It was amazing to see Christensen back onscreen with his friend Ewan McGregor, who reprised his role of the titular Obi-Wan Kenobi. While Christensen mainly donned the Darth Vader suit, he did portray Vader’s alter ego, Anakin Skywalker, for two short scenes. In one scene, Christensen was far from the camera, meaning little CGI was used on him.
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Obi-Wan Kenobi episode 5 featured a flashback scattered throughout the episode featuring Obi-Wan and Anakin dueling. Both McGregor and Christensen were digitally de-aged, though much of the criticism fell on the work done on Christensen. Christensen was 39 while filming and had to be de-aged to look like he was about 20 years younger. While the CGI wasn’t perfect, Christensen’s portrayal of Vader during his and Obi-Wan’s final battle was some of the best acting Christensen has ever done in Star Wars. The scene where Obi-Wan cracks Vader’s mask was moving and Christensen’s voice and inflections made the scene legendary.
1 Hayden Christensen Returned Again At 41 Years Old To Guide Ahsoka Tano
Release Date: August 22, 2023
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Ahsoka
- Release Date
- August 23, 2023
- Directors
- Dave Filoni , Steph Green , Rick Famuyiwa , Geeta Vasant Patel , Peter Ramsey , Jennifer Getzinger
- Cast
- Rosario Dawson , Natasha Liu Bordizzo , Hayden Christensen , Eman Esfandi , Ivanna Sakhno , Mary Elizabeth Winstead , Ray Stevenson , Genevieve O'Reilly , Lars Mikkelsen , Diana Lee Inosanto
- Writers
- Dave Filoni
- Seasons
- 1
- Streaming Service(s)
- Disney Plus
It was rumored that Hayden Christensen would be reprising his role as Anakin Skywalker for the Ahsoka Disney+ show, but no confirmation was ever made until he was seen in the World Between Worlds. It was the first time Anakin and Ahsoka Tano were ever seen together in live-action. Additionally, Christensen worked with Ariana Greenblatt, who portrayed a Clone Wars-era Ahsoka. It was amazing to finally see Christensen portray Anakin during the Clone Wars and wearing the armor he wore during The Clone Wars television show.
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Christensen easily fell back into Anakin and Christensen's skills with a lightsaber were just as sharp as they had been during the prequels. Christensen would also appear in Ahsoka season 1 in a training recording Anakin had made for Ahsoka during the Clone Wars. The final shot of Ahsoka season 1 showed Anakin’s Force ghost watching over Ahsoka Tano and Sabine Wren. It’s unclear if Christensen will return for Ahsoka season 2, but some are theorizing how he can return. Whether Hayden Christensen returns as Anakin Skywalker or not, it was wonderful seeing him back in Star Wars after so long.
- Movies
- Star Wars
- Hayden Christensen
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