Hayden Christensen: ‘Darth Vader Is Anakin Skywalker. He’s Just Experienced a Radical Ideological Shift’

GayNrd Editors May 23, 2022

Actor Hayden Christensen spoke to Time Out Magazine a week away from the premiere of the highly anticipated Disney+ mini-series Obi-Wan Kenobi where he reprises his role as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader.

Time Out:

Canadian heartthrob Hayden Christensen was just 19 when he landed the role of pouty, petulant Jedi-in-training Anakin Skywalker in the second and third of George Lucas’s Star Wars prequels. Those films may have sparked a still-raging controversy among the hardcore fanbase, but they were huge commercial successes – all three remain in the all-time box office top 100 – and rocketed Christensen to instant global stardom.
Seventeen years after the release of Revenge of the Sith, Christensen is stepping back into the role that made him famous – and into probably the most recognisable movie costume of all time. In Disney+’s new Star Wars spinoff Obi-Wan Kenobi, he dons the iconic breath mask, codpiece and motorbike leathers to play intergalactic overlord Darth Vader, as he once again comes face-to-face with his old Jedi Master, Kenobi, played by Ewan McGregor.
We asked Christensen about the drawbacks of the black suit, his decades-long friendship with McGregor and whether Darth Vader really is an antihero for our times…
You only got to wear the Darth Vader costume briefly at the end of Episode 3. How did it feel stepping back into it?
‘It was an incredible experience putting that suit back on. It’s hard to put into words, it brought up a lot of emotions for me.’
Is it also kind of nice to film something where you don’t have to worry about hair and make-up?
‘Completely. It’s great to hide behind a mask!’
Does the character of Darth Vader feel like he belongs to you now, in a way he might not have before?
‘That was part of what was really exciting about this, getting to really explore Darth Vader. Obviously, in the prequels I was Anakin Skywalker, and I got to show that transition, but I didn’t get to spend much time in the suit. So to come back and revisit the character at this point in the timeline was huge.’
Do you see them as separate characters, or just a continuum of the same person?
‘I absolutely see it as a continuation. Darth Vader is Anakin Skywalker, he’s just experienced a radical ideological shift and suffered some really severe battle wounds.’
Radical ideological shifts are all the rage at the moment! Did you think about that while you were shooting?
‘All the time. I think what makes this character so compelling is the change he goes through. He’s gone through this seismic shift, and now he’s trying to reconcile that. And ultimately he does find redemption. It’s quite a journey.’