Hayden Christensen 1993-2005 what occurred in 1993? Christensen made his acting debut in September 1993, what was the film? at the age of 12, he played a supporting role on the German-Canadian television series Macht Der Leidenschaft/Family Passions. what film did he star in as a youth? The following year, he had a minor role in John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness. what film was a big break for him? He acquired wider notice while starring in Fox Family Channel's television series Higher Ground in 2000,
what character did he play in that film?
what character did Hayden Christensen play in the debut film?
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. The following year, he had a minor role in John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness. 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?  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.  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. However, the performance did not receive widespread public notice. In 2002, Christensen made his London theatre debut with Jake Gyllenhaal and Anna Paquin in This Is Our Youth.  He went on to receive good 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. 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." 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. CANNOTANSWER
a teen who was sexually molested by his stepmother, and then turned to drugs in his despair.
Hayden Christensen (born April 19, 1981) is a Canadian actor and producer. He began his career on Canadian television at the age of 13, then diversified into American television in the late 1990s. He was praised for his acting as Sam in Life as a House (2001), earning Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations.

Christensen gained international fame for his portrayal of Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader in the Star Wars prequel trilogy films, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005), a role he will reprise for the announced Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka. His honours for these films include a nomination for the Saturn Award for Best Actor and the Cannes Film Festival Revelation Award. He also received critical acclaim for his portrayal of Stephen Glass in the 2003 film Shattered Glass.

Early life
Christensen was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, to Alie, an American speechwriter, and David Christensen, a Canadian computer programmer and communications executive. His father is of Danish descent, and his mother has Swedish and Italian ancestry. Christensen is one of four children, with three actor siblings: older brother Tove, older sister Hejsa, and  younger sister Kaylen. Christensen was an athlete in high school, playing hockey competitively and tennis on a provincial level.

He spent summers on Long Island with his maternal grandmother, Rose Schwartz, and attended the Actors Studio in New York City; he studied as well at the Arts York drama program at Unionville High School in Markham, Ontario. 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.

Career

1993–2005
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. The following year, he had a minor role in John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness. 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?

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.

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. However, the performance did not receive widespread public notice. In 2002, Christensen made his London theatre debut with Jake Gyllenhaal and Anna Paquin in This Is Our Youth.

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. 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." 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.

Star Wars

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. 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. Lucas agreed, and a suit was engineered to fit Christensen's frame, even including extensions to allow for the actor to attain Vader's  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.

Stock footage of Christensen was used in the 2004 DVD-release edition of Return of the Jedi, where he was inserted to replace Sebastian Shaw as the force ghost of the redeemed Anakin Skywalker. This was one of the most controversial changes. Lucas wanted Anakin's inner person to return to who he was before he turned to the dark side. 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.

His performance in both Episode II and III received generally mixed reviews by critics (earning him the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor in both films).

Christensen was named in both People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People and Teen Peoples 25 Hottest Stars under 25. For his performance in Episode III, he won the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain.

2006–2018

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, and co-starred in Factory Girl, opposite Sienna Miller and Guy Pearce. 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. Bilson and Christensen co-starred again in the same segment of the film New York, I Love You. Christensen appeared opposite Mischa Barton in Virgin Territory, which was released directly-to-DVD in North America on August 26, 2008. 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.

In October 2009, Christensen started shooting the horror film Vanishing on 7th Street, directed by Brad Anderson, with Thandie Newton and John Leguizamo. Christensen appeared in the crime drama Takers with Idris Elba and Paul Walker, released in the United States on August 27, 2010. 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. 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.

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 intends 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. In 2014, he starred in the American-Chinese-Canadian film Outcast, an action drama, alongside Nicolas Cage.

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. 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.

Return to the Star Wars franchise 
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. 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. On December 10, 2020 during Disney+ Investor Day 2020, it was announced that Christensen would reprise his role of Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader for the Obi-Wan Kenobi limited series on Disney+. On October 22, 2021, it was reported that Christensen would also reprise the role for the Disney+ series Ahsoka.

Personal life
In 2007, Christensen began dating actress Rachel Bilson, with whom he starred in the movie Jumper. They became engaged on December 25, 2008. In mid-2010, they broke up, but began dating again a few months later. On October 29, 2014, Bilson gave birth to their daughter Briar Rose. Christensen and Bilson separated in September 2017.

In 2007, Christensen bought a farm near Uxbridge, Ontario. He noted in 2008 that he had been renovating the property himself and devoting time to learning about "livestock, crops, and agricultural machinery". In November 2013, Christensen collaborated with Canadian fashion chain RW&Co to release a men's clothing line inspired by his farm.

An avid Toronto Maple Leafs fan, Christensen performed a public service announcement for Do Something's Teens for Jeans Campaign in 2008. He modelled in Louis Vuitton's advertising, and was also named as the face of Lacoste's newest fragrance, Lacoste Challenge. He was featured in RED's Lazarus Effect Campaign, which is intended to increase awareness for its efforts to fight AIDS in Africa.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

 
 
 
 
 

1981 births
20th-century Canadian male actors
21st-century Canadian male actors
Male actors from Toronto
Male actors from Vancouver
Actors Studio alumni
Canadian male child actors
Canadian male film actors
Canadian people of American descent
Canadian expatriate male actors in the United States
Canadian people of Danish descent
Canadian people of Italian descent
Canadian people of Swedish descent
Canadian male soap opera actors
Canadian male stage actors
Canadian male television actors
Canadian male voice actors
Golden Raspberry Award winners
Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute alumni
Living people
People from Thornhill, Ontario
Helen Shivers is a fictional character in the I Know What You Did Last Summer franchise. She was created by American writer Lois Duncan and originates from Duncan's 1973 suspense novel I Know What You Did Last Summer as a young woman involved in a hit and run accident. In this version, she is known as Helen Rivers.

She was portrayed by actress Sarah Michelle Gellar in the Kevin Williamson scripted feature film I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) as the Croaker Queen of the Southport 1996 Beauty Pageant. Her chase sequence with the killer of the film has been deemed iconic and has been described as toying with the audience's expectations.

While the film itself received middling reviews, Gellar's performance as Shivers was met with critical acclaim and the character has obtained a cult following in recent years. In 2018, she was portrayed by Greer Grammer in the musical parody I Know What You Did Last Summer: The Unauthorized Musical that premiered at the El Cid in Los Angeles.

The character is particularly notable for challenging horror film tropes of the time, in which the characters (in most cases teenage victims) were left underdeveloped and without a substantial story arc. Shiver's storyline has often been referred to as a highlight of the film.

Appearances

Literature
Helen originates from Lois Duncan's 1973 suspense novel I Know What You Did Last Summer. She is depicted as a high school drop out from a large family who manages to launch a successful television career as an actress. She was involved in a hit-and-run accident of a cycling boy with her boyfriend Barry Cox, and friends Julie James and Ray Bronson. A year later, Julie reveals a letter to Helen that says "I know what you did last summer". The next day, while tanning at her apartment complex she meets Collingsworth Wilson who moved into one of the vacant apartments the day before. She later finds a magazine cutout of a boy riding a bicycle taped to her apartment door. After a series of bizarre encounters with the anonymous figure toying with them, Helen is confronted by Collingsworth at her apartment. She locks herself inside her bathroom and escapes through her window as he tries to break the door down. Later, Helen calls the police and sends them to Julie's house, who was Collingsworth's next target.

Film
Shivers makes her cinematic debut in the 1997 film. On the Fourth of July, Helen wins the Fourth of July Croaker Beauty Pageant and reveals aspirations as a New York-based actress. Afterwards, she goes to the beach with her friends Julie James, Barry Cox, and Ray Bronson. While driving on the byway, they accidentally run over a pedestrian. They decide to dump the body into the sea and to never talk about what happened.

A year later, she is revealed to have failed as an actress and now works at her family's store. When Julie receives a letter with no return address, stating, "I know what you did last summer!" she tracks her down and the duo reunite with Barry and Ray. The rest of the group begin to receive taunting messages from the mysterious assailant. One morning, Helen wakes up to find her hair cut off and "Soon" written in lipstick on her mirror.

At the Croaker Beauty Pageant, Helen witnesses the murder of Barry on the balcony. With his body nowhere to be found, a police officer escorts a hysterical Helen home, but the killer murders him in an alleyway. Helen breaks out of the back of the police car and is chased to her family's store. The killer enters through the unlocked back door and murders her sister Elsa. Helen is chased to the third floor of the building and jumps out of the window. She manages to make it a few feet away from the parade, but the killer appears behind her and begins to slash her, her screams being obscured by the parade. Her corpse is later discovered by Julie.

Shivers makes a cameo appearance in I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998) in a photograph through use of Sarah Michelle Gellar's personality rights.

Development
 The character originates from American writer Lois Duncan's 1973 suspense novel I Know What You Did Last Summer as one of the main characters involved in a hit-and-run accident. In this version she is named Helen Rivers, her family is poorer and (possibly) larger than in the film, and she isn't murdered. Her aspirations as an actress are found with greater success in the novel than in the film adaptation. Gellar was the last of the lead actors to be cast. In the 1997 film, she has been described as a "local beauty-pageant winner who wants to become an actress". Shivers is initially depicted as a vapid, egotistical beauty queen, but over the course of the film she is shown to be a very affectionate person despite her dysfunctional home life and overt loneliness.

Alexandra West attests that the film constantly alludes to her physical attractiveness and superficial vanity, writing that "Helen is constantly framed in doorways and mirrors, lending to the notion that she is an object to be looked at and that her looks are her most indelible quality." However, she notes that this is a stark contrast to her profound personal struggles that are revealed later in the film:
 "Director Jim Gillespie makes it clear that Helen is completely and utterly alone with no true connections, so much that she appears almost relieved when the notes that says, "I know what you did last summer" begin appearing, as it gives her an excuse to reconnect with her friends. Her death is equal parts tense and tragic."

Popular culture
The character was spoofed in the form of Buffy Gilmore (a nod to Sarah Michelle Gellar's Buffy The Vampire Slayer), a character portrayed by Shannon Elizabeth in the Keenen Ivory Wayans directed parody film Scary Movie (2000) and by Julie Benz in Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th.

In 2018, Greer Grammer was cast in the musical parody I Know What You Did Last Summer: The Unauthorized Musical that premiered at the El Cid in Los Angeles.

Reception
Gellar's performance in the film was met with acclaim. Her portrayal earned her a Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Supporting Actress – Horror and a MTV Movie Award nomination for Best Breakthrough Performance.

Years since the release of the 1997 film, Shivers has been frequently referred to as a breakout character. In an article for Rotten Tomatoes, April Wolfe states, "The key to Helen Shivers’ success as a sidekick is her unabashed and shameless vanity. Sarah Michelle Gellar's portrayal of the character paints her as the beauty queen with depth, the most likely to succeed. She's the woman with the plan to track down the killer and the guts to charge into the crowd of the Croaker Queen Pageant talent competition to save her friend. Unfortunately, luck just wasn't on her side."

Chris Eggertsen of Uproxx described the character as being complex. Eggertsen praised Gellar for giving a "compelling" performance and for being able to transform Helen from a vapid self absorbed beauty queen to a fully realized and sympathetic character. Similarly, writer Sara Century of Syfy Wire described her as a "compelling character" and is notably different from other horror film characters due to her intimate character arc, "Helen is a compelling character especially in horror, a genre that traditionally fails to give emotional backing to its doomed teenagers. On the surface, she's shallow, obsessed with beauty pageants and trips to New York. Yet there's something haunted in Helen from the very beginning, and it gives her character a lot more weight than what we see at face value. There have been full essays written on her death scene alone, and she has remained surprisingly influential." West states that her story line is the most visible out of the four central characters.

References

Works cited
 
 
 

Female characters in literature
Female horror fiction characters
Fictional actors
I Know What You Did Last Summer (franchise)
Literary characters introduced in 1973 Arthur Kipps is the name of the protagonist in two distinct works of fiction.

HG Wells character
The main character in HG Wells novel Kipps
The same character in derivative works:
Kipps (1921 film), starring George K. Arthur in the role
Kipps (1941 film), starring Michael Redgrave in the role
Half a Sixpence, a musical comedy starring Tommy Steele
Half a Sixpence (film), a film version of the musical, also starring Tommy Steele

Susan Hill character
The main character in the Susan Hill novel The Woman in Black
The same character in derivative works:
The Woman in Black (play), a 1987 stage play
The Woman in Black (1989 film), a television film
The Woman in Black (2012 film), a cinematic release film, starring Daniel Radcliffe