Hayden Christensen
Template:Short description Template:Pp-blp Template:Use Canadian English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox person Hayden Christensen (born April 19, 1981)<ref name="filmref">Template:Cite web</ref> is a Canadian actor. He gained recognition for his portrayal of Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader in the Star Wars media franchise. He first appeared in the prequel trilogy films, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005), and later reprised his role in the Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022) and Ahsoka (2023).
Christensen began his career on Canadian television at the age of 13, then diversified into American television in the late 1990s. His early work includes Free Fall (1999), Life as a House (2001), and Shattered Glass (2003). He earned praise for his performances as Sam in Life as a House and as Stephen Glass in Shattered Glass. Christensen's honours include the nominations for a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, as well as the Cannes Film Festival's Trophée Chopard. His other notable works include Awake (2007), Jumper (2008), Takers (2010), and Little Italy (2018).
Early life
[edit]Christensen was born in Vancouver, British Columbia to Alie, an American speechwriter, and David Christensen, a Canadian computer programmer and communications executive.<ref name="filmref" /><ref name="telegraph2002" /> His father is of Danish descent, and his mother has Swedish and Italian ancestry.<ref name="telegraph2002">Template:Cite newsTemplate:Cbignore</ref> Christensen is one of four children, with three actor siblings: older brother Tove, older sister Hejsa, and younger sister Kaylen.<ref name="filmref" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He spent summers on Long Island with his maternal grandmother, Rose Schwartz.<ref name=nytimes/>
Christensen attended Unionville High School in Markham, Ontario.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was an athlete in high school, playing hockey competitively and tennis on a provincial level.<ref name="nytimes">Template:Cite news</ref> He attended the Actors Studio in New York City; he studied as well at the Arts York drama program in high school.<ref name="nytimes2" /> After accompanying his older sister to her agent's office after she landed a role in a Pringles commercial, he began being cast in commercials as well, including for Triaminic cough syrup in 1988.<ref name="nytimes2">Template:Cite news</ref>
Career
[edit]1993–2005
[edit]Christensen made his acting debut in September 1993, when, at the age of 12, he played a supporting role on the German-Canadian television series Macht Der Leidenschaft/Family Passions.<ref name="filmography">Template:Cite web</ref> The following year, he had a minor role in John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness.<ref name="filmography" /> From 1995 through 1999, he appeared in several films and television series, including Harrison Bergeron, Forever Knight, Goosebumps, The Virgin Suicides, and Are You Afraid of the Dark?<ref name="filmography" />
He acquired wider notice while starring in Fox Family Channel's television series Higher Ground in 2000, portraying a teen who was sexually molested by his stepmother, and then turned to drugs in his despair.<ref name="filmography" /><ref name="scifi">Template:Cite web</ref>
Christensen's critically acclaimed portrayal of a misunderstood teenager in Life as a House (2001) earned him Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations, as well as the National Board of Review's award for Breakthrough Performance of the Year.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> However, the performance did not receive widespread public notice.<ref name="scifi" /> In 2002, Christensen made his London theatre debut with Jake Gyllenhaal and Anna Paquin in This Is Our Youth.<ref>Loveridge, Lizzie (March 2002), "A CurtainUp London Review: This is Our Youth" Template:Webarchive, CurtainUp.com. Retrieved on April 19, 2018</ref>
He went on to receive positive reviews for 2003's Shattered Glass, which tells the true story of journalist Stephen Glass, who was discovered to be fabricating stories as a writer for The New Republic and other publications.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote, "Hayden Christensen is sensational as Glass, finding the wonder boy and the weasel in a disturbed kid flying high on a fame he hasn't earned."<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In 2005, Christensen made his Broadway debut when he appeared briefly in a 10-minute play.
In 2005, he took part in the fifth annual "24 Hour Plays" benefit, which raises cash for nonprofit groups in the Big Apple.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Star Wars
[edit]
On May 12, 2000, Christensen announced that he would be starring as an adult Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005); Skywalker was previously portrayed by Jake Lloyd as a child in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999). The casting director reviewed about 1,500 other candidates before director George Lucas selected Christensen.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Lucas is quoted as saying that he chose Christensen because he "needed an actor who has that presence of the Dark Side". This was essential to solidify the story that Lucas was trying to tell: Anakin Skywalker's fall from grace and transformation into Darth Vader.
During the production of Revenge of the Sith, Christensen asked Lucas if a special Vader suit could be constructed to fit his own body, rather than have a different actor don one of the original sets of Vader armour worn by David Prowse.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Lucas agreed, and a suit was engineered to fit Christensen's frame, even including extensions to allow for the actor to attain Vader's Template:Convert height. His voice as the "robotic" Vader, however, was dubbed over by James Earl Jones, who first made the voice famous in the original trilogy.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In one of the most controversial changes made to the Star Wars original trilogy,<ref name="Brooker">Johnson, Derek. "Star Wars fans, DVD, and cultural ownership: an interview with Will Brooker; Interview", Velvet Light Trap, September 22, 2005, pg. 36–44.</ref> Christensen was inserted into the 2004 DVD release of Return of the Jedi, where he replaced Sebastian Shaw as the force ghost of the redeemed Anakin Skywalker.<ref name="DVD">Template:Cite AV media</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Lucas wanted Anakin's inner person to return to who he was before he turned to the dark side.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref> Christensen insisted this was done without his knowledge, an act that was confirmed by Lucasfilm itself in the featurette "Return of the Jedi: What has changed?" as seen on the official website to commemorate the 2006 DVDs.<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref>
Christensen's performance in both Episode II and III received generally mixed reviews from critics,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> although contemporary reviews note that his performance was mostly affected by Lucas' directing and the dialogue, and has since seen positive reappraisal in retrospect.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2022, when reflecting on the prequel trilogy and the reappraisal, Christensen said, “It’s like those films had a gestation period, where they needed a little time to ferment in the public psyche. The reception that the films have now, it’s very heartwarming.”<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Christensen was named in both People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People and Teen PeopleTemplate:'s 25 Hottest Stars under 25.<ref name="people">Template:Cite web</ref> For his performance in Episode III, he won the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2006–2018
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Between 2006 and 2007, he starred in Awake, with Jessica Alba, which tells the story of a man who remains awake but paralyzed during heart surgery,<ref name="filmography" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and co-starred in Factory Girl, opposite Sienna Miller and Guy Pearce.<ref name="filmography" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Christensen next co-starred with Samuel L. Jackson, Jamie Bell, and Rachel Bilson in the film Jumper, the story of a young man who discovers he has the ability to teleport; the film was released on February 14, 2008.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Bilson and Christensen co-starred again in the same segment of the film New York, I Love You.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Christensen appeared opposite Mischa Barton in Virgin Territory, which was released directly-to-DVD in North America on August 26, 2008.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The film, based on The Decameron, is about a group of people who escape the Black Plague epidemic by hiding out in a Tuscan villa in Italy.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In October 2009, Christensen started shooting the horror film Vanishing on 7th Street, directed by Brad Anderson, with Thandiwe Newton and John Leguizamo.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Christensen appeared in the crime drama Takers with Idris Elba and Paul Walker, released in the United States on August 27, 2010.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey is the fourth film in which Christensen stars with Samuel L. Jackson.
In 2010, Christensen sued USA Network over allegations that they stole his idea for the TV show Royal Pains. The suit alleges that Christensen met with USA to pitch a similar series entitled Housecalls. During the meeting, Christensen alleges, he was never informed that a similar program was in development.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Although a federal judge at first dismissed Christensen's lawsuit in 2011, in June 2012, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals reversed this decision and remanded the case back to the district court for further proceedings, in what was considered a legal victory for Christensen.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
On May 20, 2013, during the Cannes Film Festival, the Russian company Enjoy Movies announced the creation of Glacier Films, an alliance company with Christensen and his brother Tove. Over a three-year period, Glacier Films intended to make 11 "micro-budget" movies costing $1.5M each. The first project, American Heist, starring Christensen, Adrien Brody and Jordana Brewster, started filming in June 2013. It is a remake of Steve McQueen's The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2014, he starred in the American-Chinese-Canadian film Outcast, an action drama, alongside Nicolas Cage.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2015, Christensen starred in the film 90 Minutes in Heaven co-starring Kate Bosworth and directed by Michael Polish based on the best-selling novel by the same name. In 2015, filming began of an unreleased World War II Nazi zombies horror movie titled Untöt, set to star Christensen.<ref name="Untöt">Template:Cite web</ref> In 2017, he was in the film First Kill alongside Bruce Willis. In 2018 he appeared in the Canadian-American romantic comedy Little Italy with Emma Roberts and in the same year was in The Last Man.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Return to the Star Wars franchise
[edit]In 2019, Christensen returned to the role of Anakin Skywalker, providing a voice cameo of the character's voice in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.<ref name="VanityFair">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Christensen also received a voice credit as Anakin Skywalker jointly alongside Matt Lanter for the penultimate episode of the final season of the animated television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars entitled "Shattered" despite the fact the dialogue used for the episode spoken by Christensen was reused archival audio from Revenge of the Sith.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On October 22, 2021, it was reported that Christensen would also reprise the role for the Disney+ series Ahsoka.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In May 2022, Christensen reprised his role of Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader for the Obi-Wan Kenobi limited series on Disney+.<ref name="IGNVaderActors">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="EWPreparation">Template:Cite magazine</ref> His portrayal earned positive reviews from critics, noting a huge improvement from his performance in the prequel trilogy.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He appeared in the documentary special Obi-Wan Kenobi: A Jedi's Return which premiered on September 8, 2022, Disney+ Day.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2023, Christensen appeared in four episodes of Ahsoka and was digitally de-aged.<ref name="x225">Template:Cite web</ref> He was first seen wearing his outfit from Revenge of the Sith and later another outfit similar to the one Anakin wore in the early series of The Clone Wars. His portrayal earned more positive reviews.
On 19 April 2025, during one of the panels at Star Wars Celebration Japan, Christensen said that he would reprise his role in the second season of Ahsoka.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On 25 April 2025, Christensen and Samuel L. Jackson surprised the audience at a screening of the Revenge of the Sith 20th anniversary re-release in Los Angeles. Christensen told the audience that he had "so many amazing memories of making" Revenge of the Sith.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
He has been attending several conventions as part of Star Wars Celebration as a guest since 2017.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In April 2019, Christensen met Matt Lanter at Star Wars Celebration Chicago and said to him, "I love what you guys are doing. Thanks for keeping Star Wars alive."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Personal life
[edit]
In 2007, Christensen began dating actress Rachel Bilson, with whom he starred in the movie Jumper. They became engaged on December 25, 2008.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In mid-2010, they broke up, but began dating again a few months later.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On October 29, 2014, Bilson gave birth to their daughter.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Christensen and Bilson separated in September 2017.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2007, Christensen bought a farm near Uxbridge, Ontario.<ref name="star2008">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He noted in 2008 that he had been renovating the property himself and devoting time to learning about "livestock, crops, and agricultural machinery".<ref name="star2008" /> In November 2013, Christensen collaborated with Canadian fashion chain RW&Co to release a men's clothing line inspired by his farm.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Christensen is an avid Toronto Maple Leafs fan.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2008, Christensen performed a public service announcement for Do Something's Teens for Jeans Campaign.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref> He modelled in Louis Vuitton's advertising,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and was also named as the face of Lacoste's newest fragrance, Lacoste Challenge.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He was featured in RED's Lazarus Effect Campaign, which is intended to increase awareness for its efforts to fight AIDS in Africa.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref>
Filmography
[edit]Film
[edit]| Year | Title | Character | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | In the Mouth of Madness | Paper boy | |
| 1995 | No Greater Love | Teddy Winfield | |
| Law of the Jungle | Young John Ryan | Released in the U.S. as Street Law | |
| 1998 | The Hairy Bird | Tinka's date | |
| 1999 | The Virgin Suicides | Jake Hill Conley | |
| Free Fall | Patrick Brennan | ||
| 2001 | Life as a House | Sam Monroe | |
| 2002 | Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones | Anakin Skywalker | |
| 2003 | Shattered Glass | Stephen Glass | |
| 2004 | Return of the Jedi DVD Special Edition | Anakin Skywalker | Uncredited; DVD re-release (replaced Sebastian Shaw) |
| 2005 | Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith | Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader | Voice of fully suited/masked Darth Vader provided by James Earl Jones |
| 2006 | Factory Girl | Billy Quinn | |
| 2007 | Awake | Clayton "Clay" Beresford, Jr. | |
| Virgin Territory | Lorenzo de Lamberti | ||
| 2008 | Jumper | David Rice | |
| 2009 | New York, I Love You | Ben | Segment: "Jiang Wen" |
| 2010 | Takers | AJ | |
| Vanishing on 7th Street | Luke Ryder | ||
| Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey | Jammer (voice) | ||
| 2014 | Outcast | Jacob | |
| American Heist | James Kelly | ||
| 2015 | 90 Minutes in Heaven | Don Piper | |
| 2017 | First Kill | William "Will' Beeman | Direct-to-video |
| 2018 | Little Italy | Leonard "Leo" Campo | |
| 2019 | The Last Man | Kurt | |
| Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker | Anakin Skywalker | Vocal cameo |
Television
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Family Passions | Skip McDeere | Unknown episodes |
| E.N.G. | Joey | Episode: "Honour or Wealth" | |
| 1995 | Love and Betrayal: The Mia Farrow Story | Fletcher | Television film |
| Harrison Bergeron | Eric | ||
| 1996 | No Greater Love | Teddy Winfield | |
| Forever Knight | Andre | Episode: "Fallen Idol" | |
| 1997 | Goosebumps | Zane | Episode: "Night of the Living Dummy III" |
| 1999 | Real Kids, Real Adventures | Eli Goodner | Episode: "Paralyzed: The Eli Goodner Story" |
| Are You Afraid of the Dark? | Kirk | Episode: "The Tale of Bigfoot Ridge" | |
| The Famous Jett Jackson | Steven | Episode: "Popularity" | |
| 2000 | Trapped in a Purple Haze | Orin Krieg | Television film |
| Higher Ground | Scott Barringer | 22 episodes | |
| 2001 | R2-D2: Beneath the Dome | Himself | Television film, mockumentary |
| 2019–2020 | Star Wars Galaxy of Adventures | Anakin Skywalker (voice) | 2 episodes (archival material only) |
| 2020 | Star Wars: The Clone Wars | Episode: "Shattered" (character voice credit shared with Matt Lanter using archival audio from Revenge of the Sith) | |
| 2022 | Obi-Wan Kenobi | Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader | Miniseries; 5 episodes (archival material only in episode: "Part I") |
| 2023–present | Ahsoka | 4 episodes |
Awards and nominations
[edit]References
[edit]External links
[edit]- Pages with broken file links
- 1981 births
- 20th-century Canadian male actors
- 21st-century Canadian male actors
- Actors Studio alumni
- Canadian expatriate male actors in the United States
- Canadian male child actors
- Canadian male film actors
- Canadian male soap opera actors
- Canadian male stage actors
- Canadian male television actors
- Canadian male voice actors
- Canadian people of American descent
- Canadian people of Danish descent
- Canadian people of Italian descent
- Canadian people of Swedish descent
- Chopard Trophy for Male Revelation winners
- Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute alumni
- Living people
- Male actors from Toronto
- Male actors from Vancouver
- People from Thornhill, Ontario