Hayden Christensen is very grateful to play Anakin again in Ahsoka
Hayden Christensen used to get a lot of crap for his performance as Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars prequels. I think he did his best with the material that he was given. Anakin comes off as a whiny, petulant brat a lot of the time and some of the dialogue that George Lucas wrote for him has become a punchline in the fandom. Whenever the occasion calls for it, Mr. Rosie and I actually still put on our best whiny voices and joke, “It’s all Obi Wan’s fault! He’s holding me back!”
But, time has a way of changing our perspective and lending fondness that wasn’t there before. Unlike when Lucas digitally replaced Sebastian Shaw with Christensen at the end of Return of the Jedi, people were excited when Hayden Christensen popped up as Anakin/Darth Vader in “Obi Wan.” I think the character in “Star Wars: The Clone Wars”’ being drawn to look like Christensen’s Anakin went a long way in conditioning viewers to finally accept him in the role, even though he did not voice the animated version. So when Christensen popped up to challenge Ahsoka in the World Between Worlds in episodes 4 and 5 of “Ahsoka,” fans were beyond ecstatic. Turns out, Christensen is also happy to be back in the Jedi robes.
Disney is sharing a behind-the-scenes look at Christensen’s return. In a featurette recorded before the start of the SAG-AFTRA strike, Ahsoka series creator Dave Filoni explains why he wanted to resurrect the man who would become Darth Vader for a climactic conversation between Master and Padawan.
“You know, as I was figuring out the story for Ahsoka, I just really thought, ‘Well, there’s an opportunity,'” Filoni says in the video. “‘I could bring Anakin and Ahsoka together.’ It’s just awesome.”
Off screen, Christensen and Dawson have a long history: Not only did they star together in 2003’s Shattered Glass, but Dawson explains that they’ve known each other for decades, bringing real-life emotion to their onscreen reunion. (The pair can be seen rehearsing and filming their big lightsaber battle, high-fiving afterward.)
“I met Hayden when I was 16,” Dawson says. “We were in an acting school together over a summer. To have that kind of history with him, it really was like seeing my old friend.”
Ahsoka isn’t Christensen’s first time revisiting Anakin: The actor reunited with his prequel costar Ewan McGregor in last year’s Obi-Wan Kenobi, playing Vader and also appearing in a flashback as a younger Anakin. But Ahsoka might be his meatiest Star Wars role since 2005’s Revenge of the Sith, following Anakin as he teaches his former Padawan one last lesson in the ethereal Force dimension known as the World Between Worlds.
“Putting on the Anakin costume, getting to wear those Jedi robes, it kind of blows your mind every time,” Christensen says. “I just feel very grateful.”
Like I said above, for most viewers, I think “Clone Wars” saved the character of Anakin after the dismal treatment he was given in the prequels. I’ve seen Christensen in other movies, like his performance in Life As a House, and thought the blowback on his stiff acting wasn’t entirely fair. It’s not like Natalie Portman turned in her best work, either. I’m glad the character was redeemed and that Hayden was game to come back to a fandom that didn’t receive him well 20 years ago. I’m almost as happy he returned as I was to see Ahmed Best (voice of Jar Jar Binks) finally get his redemption and due in “The Mandalorian” last season. That dude had it even worse than HC did.
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