Hayden Christensen could also be identified for taking part in Anakin Skywalker now, however he was satisfied the long-lasting function was going to another person — Leonardo DiCaprio.
I had heard that they’d met with Leonardo and a bunch of different actors,” Christensen, 42, revealed throughout a Wednesday, February 28, interview with Empire. “That simply confirmed my thought that the function would go to a different actor.
Christensen added that whereas he did need to painting Anakin Skywalker within the Star Wars prequel, he was so satisfied that he wouldn’t be solid that he by no means even let himself daydream in regards to the chance.
“Via your complete auditioning course of, I had advised myself, from day one, that I wasn’t going to get the half,” he defined. “It simply wasn’t a chance. And I believe that most likely helped me quite a bit, as a result of it simply freed me up in loads of methods.”
Earlier than Christensen stepped into Anakin’s sneakers, a sequence of different actors auditioned. Whereas DiCpario, 49, finally felt it wasn’t the best mission for him — “I didn’t really feel able to take that dive at that time,” he advised Shortlist in 2015 — different younger ‘90s stars equivalent to Devon Sawa, Ryan Phillippe, James Van Der Beek and Paul Walker all went out for the function.
Christensen was finally picked to painting the younger Jedi turned villainous Darth Vader within the George Lucas franchise, starring in 2002’s Episode II: Assault of the Clones alongside Ewan McGregor and Natalie Portman. He reprised the function for Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, which premiered in 2005.
After the primary movie hit theaters, it acquired blended reactions. Christensen confessed he didn’t see the backlash coming, which included preliminary harsh opinions of his performing and his dialogue.
“The character was criticized, my efficiency was criticized, and that half sucked,” he recalled. “I [had] watched the movie, and I cherished it. It was every little thing I wished and extra. And I didn’t perceive the disconnect between the film that I noticed, and the negativity in a number of the opinions.
He continued, “George Lucas creates such a singular world the place every little thing is so particular, from the best way these characters look and the best way that they speak, and I really feel like generally individuals lose sight of that and so they anticipate them to talk the identical manner that we communicate – and that’s not what we had been going for.”
Regardless of the criticism, Christensen finally selected to return for Disney+’s, Obi-Wan Kenobi sequence reverse McGregor, 52, in 2022. He later appeared on the streaming service’s Ahsoka, starring Rosario Dawson.
“Once we completed doing the prequels, it felt like that was it, and my journey with the character was over,” Christensen mentioned. “So to get to return again now and do extra with Anakin and Darth Vader was a tremendous alternative. I’m very grateful for the work that I bought to do.”
He added, “[It] was a bucket-list merchandise I didn’t even know I hadThe journey that I’ve been on with Star Wars over the past 20 plus years… it’s been a wild trip, and the place we’re at now could be actually significant to me.