Hayden Christensen Star Wars
Was Hayden in Star Wars?
Was Hayden Christensen in Star Wars?
On May 12, 2000, Christensen announced that he would be starring as Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005). 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 armor 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 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 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 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 People's 25 Hottest Stars under 25. For his performance in Episode III, he won the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain. CANNOTANSWER
Christensen announced that he would be starring as Anakin Skywalker
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
Mat Lucas (born October 27, 1977) is an American voice actor, who is most notable for voicing the Star Wars character Anakin Skywalker in the series Star Wars: Clone Wars, and also reprised the role in the video games Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars: Battlefront II and Star Wars: The Clone Wars. He has also worked as an editor and in the editorial department on several projects.

Career

Star Wars
The similarity of Lucas' voice with that of Hayden Christensen was highlighted from his work on Star Wars: The Clone Wars, with a Video Game Talk review of the game saying that his voice-acting "could almost pass for Hayden Christensen", while saying that overall the voice work on the game was generally good.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

References

External links
 
 
 Mat Lucas at Behind The Voice Actors

1977 births
Living people
American male voice actors
Male actors from New York City This is a list of Star Wars cast members who voiced or portrayed characters appearing in the film series. The list is sorted by film and character, as some of the characters were portrayed by multiple actors.

As the franchise is composed of multiple films (including spin-offs and anthologies) there are multiple lead actors. In the primary series, dubbed the "Skywalker saga", Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher starred as Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia respectively in the original films Star Wars (1977), The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983) and reprised the roles in the sequel trilogy films Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019). James Earl Jones, David Prowse and Sebastian Shaw collectively portrayed Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader, and Alec Guinness portrayed Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original films. Jake Lloyd and Hayden Christensen portray a younger version of Anakin in the first and next two installments of the prequels and Ewan McGregor stars in all three, Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999), Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005) as a younger Obi-Wan Kenobi, being top billed in the later two films. Daisy Ridley plays Rey and  Adam Driver plays Kylo Ren in the sequel films (2015—19).

Also starring in the franchise include, Felicity Jones who plays Jyn Erso in Rogue One (2016) and Alden Ehrenheich as Han Solo in Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018). Solo served as a lead and supporting character in the original (1977—83) and sequel (2015—19) films respectively, played by Harrison Ford.

Also recurring throughout the franchise include, Frank Oz, Samuel L. Jackson, Jimmy Smits, Natalie Portman, Pernilla August, Liam Neeson, Christopher Lee, Billy Dee Williams, Joel Edgerton, Peter Mayhew, Joonas Suotamo, Emilia Clarke, Ray Park, Andy Serkis, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Warwick Davis, Oscar Isaac, Kelly Marie Tran, John Boyega, Gwendoline Christie, Domnhall Gleeson, Temuera Morrison, Jeremy Bulloch, Matthew Wood and Ian McDiarmid.

With the release of Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker in 2019, Daniels is credited with the most acting appearances as the same character, having played C-3PO in all nine films of the Skywalker Saga, as well as the anthology film Rogue One, The Clone Wars film and TV series in 2008 and 2003, and a guest appearance in the first season of Rebels. He also appeared in Solo, but as a different character named "Tak", as well as a character named "Dannl Faytonni" in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, the latter being alongside C-3PO.

Indicators only apply for characters portrayed within multiple categories. All characters without indicators were introduced within the category they are listed on. The cast is divided in six categories: main saga (M), anthology series (A), animated series and Star Wars: The Clone Wars film (S), books (B), comic books (C), and the non-canonical Legends series (L).

List indicators:
 denotes the character was introduced within the main saga.
 denotes the character was introduced within the anthology series.
 denotes the character was introduced within an animated series or The Clone Wars film.
 denotes the character originated within a non-canonical Star Wars Legends animated series of film before being introduced into the Star Wars canon.
 denotes the character was introduced within a novel.
 denotes the character originated within a non-canonical Star Wars Legends novel before being introduced into the Star Wars canon.
 denotes the character was introduced within a comic book or graphic novel.
 denotes the character originated within a non-canonical Star Wars Legends comic book or graphic novel before being introduced into the Star Wars canon.
 denotes the character introduced within the current category, but also has an extended plot-line within another category. (Example:  would denote the character was introduced within the current category but has an extended plot-line in the anthology series, alternatively  would denote an extended plot-line in the animated series, and  would denote extended plot-lines on both categories.)

The Skywalker Saga

Anthology series
A series of standalone films was announced in 2013: Rogue One was released in 2016, Solo was released in 2018, and another film is planned with an unknown title or release. The films contain some characters and cast from the main series, along with new characters.

Animated series and Star Wars: The Clone Wars film

In 2008, the animated film Star Wars: The Clone Wars was released. It was followed by a television series of the same name within the same year. Four other series entitled Star Wars Rebels, Star Wars Forces of Destiny, Star Wars Resistance, and Star Wars: The Bad Batch premiered soon after.

Legends films and television series
With the 2012 acquisition of Lucasfilm by The Walt Disney Company, the Star Wars Holiday Special and Ewok prequel films: Caravan of Courage and The Battle for Endor, as well as most comics and books produced since the originating 1977 film Star Wars, were re-branded as Star Wars Legends and declared non-canon to the franchise in April 2014. Despite the decanonization, the television films do retain many major cast members from the original trilogy reprising their roles; the Holiday Special featured most of the cast from the original film, while the Ewok prequel films featured Warwick Davis reprising his role as Wicket, who originated in Return of the Jedi.

Notes

 The Clone Wars was Saw Gerrera's first appearance in Star Wars, although in his first film appearance in Rogue One, he is portrayed by Forest Whitaker.
 The Holiday Special was Boba Fett's first appearance in Star Wars, although in his first canon appearance in TESB, he is portrayed by Jeremy Bulloch.
 Kevin Pollack, Ken Grantham, Mark Dodson and Rick Cimino are credited as providing Ewok voices for The Battle for Endor, although which Ewok they voice is not stated.
 Clone Wars was General Grievous' first appearance in Star Wars, although in his first canon appearance in ROTS, he is voiced by Matthew Wood.
 Carrie Fisher appears in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker from footage originally shot for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but cut from the film. The previously unseen footage was repurposed to fit the narrative for the franchise's ninth installment. Additional material for Fisher's character is provided by Billie Lourd via motion capture.
 Ewan McGregor's voice can be heard saying the newly recorded dialogue "These are your first steps" while archive recordings of Alec Guinness saying "afraid" were cut to say "Rey", both occurring during a flashback caused by Rey's touching of Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber.
 Ewan McGregor's voice can be heard saying the newly recorded dialogue "These are your final steps, Rey, rise and take them" while archive recordings of Alec Guinness saying "afraid" were cut to say "Rey", both occurring when Rey says "Be with me", and voices of past Jedi are heard.
  In the original release of the film, Yoda is portrayed via puppeteery. In the 2011 Blu-ray re-release, he is played via computer-generated imagery.

See also
 List of Star Wars film actors
 List of Star Wars television series actors

References

The Star Wars Actors Database Over 1000 Star Wars actors listed with biographies, photos, in-depth credit listings and more.

External links

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens
Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi
Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker

Lists of actors by film series
Lists of actors by science fiction television series
Cast members