“He looked kinda emo”: George Lucas Saw Hayden Christensen Had A Real Dark Side Even Before He Was Cast As Anakin Skywalker
Canadian actor Hayden Christensen is a popular face of one of the oldest yet most popular franchises in the world of entertainment Star Wars. The actor rose to face by portraying the character of Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader in the sci-fi intergalactic franchise in 2002.
He went on to immortalize the character of Anakin Skywalker with his cold stares and great acting prowess. Not many people know that he was in competition with around 1,500 participants for the character of the powerful Jedi in the Star Wars franchise. The dark side of the actor’s presence and persona helped him bag the role in the billion-dollar sci-fi franchise.
George Lucas Selected Hayden Christensen For His Dark Side For The Character Of Anakin Skywalker
During an interview with the media outlet The Things Star Wars casting director Robin Gurland recalled about meeting Hayden Christensen for the first time. She mentioned getting goosebumps and instantly knew she had already found her Anakin Skywalker. She said-
“When Hayden came for his first meeting, I opened the door, and I just suddenly became flushed, because I knew. I sat him down and looked at him through the camera, and all of a sudden, I could feel goosebumps. I couldn’t get too excited, because it was just the initial meeting, but by the end of it, I just knew that Anakin had walked in the door. I literally picked up the phone and called George and said, ‘Anakin just walked in.”
She further added-
“For Anakin, the role is so innate, that the actor has to connect with it. You just know immediately when someone comes in a room — no matter what they’ve done or what can say they can do — if they’re going to connect with a role. It was a similar case when I met Ewan [McGregor] and Natalie [Portman] for their roles. I just knew innately they were right.”
An X user reacted to the information and commented-
“He looked kinda emo”
A.K.A he looked kinda emo.
— KristianBlood (@BloodKristian) September 18, 2023
The Star Wars actor had a very strong command over his presence which helped him overshadow other people at the audition. Geoge Lucas could very well see the dark side of Hayden Christensen and signed the actor for one of the most iconic characters in the Star Wars franchise. It was because of this factor, that the character of Anakin Skywalker transformed into one of the most famous villains of the franchise Darth Vader.
Hayden Christensen On Playing Anakin Skywalker And His Transformation Into Darth Vader
During his appearance in the reputed media outlet Variety’s Actors on Actors segment, Hayden Christensen was present with actor Diego Luna. The Canadian actor reflected on Anakin Skywalker’s story and the development of Darth Vader. He said-
“I think we understood what Anakin was going through, and why he was making some choices that perhaps weren’t the best, and the circumstances surrounding his life. So it was a very understandable fall to the dark side, but it humanized him and made him a real person and almost somewhat of a pathetic person in a lot of ways. And you feel for Darth Vader now in a different way, too. Because it’s this man trapped in this life that perhaps he didn’t really want.”
While talking about the image he had before portraying the character of Darth Vader, he said-
“The image of Darth Vader is very well known. I remember being a kid, before I had seen the films, having a connection to this character, just being very taken with the physical presence and the voice. I remember scaring my little sister just trying to imitate the Darth Vader voice, and it worked. So there’s something about the construct of that character that just is very effective.”
Hayden Christensen would be seen reprising the character of Anakin Skywalker in the Disney+ spinoff of the Star Wars franchise, Ahsoka.
Source: The Things/ X/ Variety
