HAYDEN Christensen is the new
Anakin Skywalker. The almost unknown Canadian actor beat off the likes of Leanardo
DiCaprio, Ryan Phillipe and Colin Hanks to land the role.
Little is known of Hayden, so here we go in trying to fill in the gaps. Hayden was born in Vancouver, but his family later moved to the Toronto area where he was educated. He has a brother aged 27, and two sisters, 25 and 15 years old. His parents are in the communications' business.
The official site revealed Hayden's start in acting was unusual. His older sister, a former junior world trampoline champion, did a commercial for Pringle. When she went to get a talent agent there was no-one to look after Hayden so he went along too.
"They asked me if I wanted to do some commercials and I said sure," Hayden said. When he was 12 years old, he had a continuing role in the first Canadian television soap opera, the daily hour-long Family Passions.
Hayden is a 6ft 1ins athlete who has played everything from hockey to football. He plays competitive beach paddle tennis with his brother; works out on the trampoline; goes skateboarding, rollerblading and mountain biking; and has practiced stage fighting — a skill that is sure to be useful in the Star Wars films.
Hayden was most recently seen on the Fox Family Channel series Higher Ground, and was in the Sofia Coppola film The Virgin Suicides. But since he was seven he has been in commercials, theater and television, and has done two other films: Strike and In the Mouth of Madness.
Hayden explained the moment when he realised his life had changed: "I was just waking up and my roommate walked in and handed me the phone and it was my agent and manager, and they were pretty excited, so I knew as soon as I got on the phone.,
"I walked outside just stunned and in disbelief. I called my mom first thing, and my roommate started blaring the Star Wars soundtrack in the background. I didn't want to tell my mom right off, but of course she heard the music and started flipping out," he laughed.
"Star Wars has always been big for my generation. When Episode I came out my entire high school went to the theater for the first showing. It was a big event, and to be a part of that now is very special.
"But it was only about a week ago that it started to hit me that I was testing for Anakin... Darth Vader! It's just been sort of hard to grasp," he added.
George Lucas himself said: "I'm looking forward to working with Hayden. He did a great screen test with Natalie. He is very talented, has a great command of his craft, and I know that he has the physical and emotional attributes to play Anakin Skywalker at perhaps the most complex stage of Anakin's life."
Producer
Rick McCallum added: "I couldn't be happier about the selection of Hayden. He is a
wonderful actor and has a great intensity. And I know we're in for some really great
scenes between Natalie and Hayden."
Hayden revealed his family are also big fans. "My brother Tove and I have always been big fans. We used to play some of the early video games religiously, for an hour at a time, to make sure we became Jedi Knights."
"I love acting because it's a bit of an escape," he said. "It gives you the ability to reinvent yourself. They say that acting is the shy man's revenge."
In his spare time, Hayden plays jazz and blues on the piano even though he doesn't read music, and tries to find time for a social life with his friends.
Casting Director Gurland said Hayden was one of those actors whom it's difficult to take your eyes off of. "There is something so interesting going on behind those eyes; you just want to know more. I think that's what my initial attraction was given that he fulfilled all of the other things that I was looking for as far as his look, his age, his temperament and his innate quality. But, besides that, to me, he is just an amazingly seductive and intriguing actor."
Gurland started the actual Anakin casting process last October. Since then she met in person, or in some cases on tape when the distances were too great, 442 candidates out of hundreds of submissions. She looked at intriguing submissions from as far afield as Iceland.
"There were no auditions; everything was done by meetings," Gurland said. "It was basically sitting down for 20 minutes to two hours and finding out who they are as an actor and what kind of experience they have." From that group, Gurland winnowed down the possibilities to about 25, and discussed them in detail with Lucas, showing him tapes of them. After those sessions, she arranged for George to personally meet with a small group of actors for informal chats, some in Los Angeles and some at Skywalker Ranch.
Gurland said that the final decision was a difficult one, because all of the final four candidates were so talented. "It's always a difficult process, but part of it is chemistry and how someone fits within an existing ensemble, and also and how you picture his character as the future father of already established Star Wars characters."
Hayden said: "I'm very excited about the challenge it's going to present and really looking forward to working with a lot of good people," he added. "It's especially exciting to work with actors such as Natalie Portman and Ewan McGregor whom I've really admired. And I get to use lightsabers... and the Force!"
Days before the announcement
Christensen's Toronto agent virtually gave the game away on a radio station.
Dani Delio laughed when asked if she ever has had a client in line for a role so large and
prominent.
"This big? I don't think anybody has. This is huge. He's Darth Vader. He will maybe
be Darth Vader. This is massive," said Delio.
Christensen, whom Delio called
"a wonderful kid," moved to L.A. in March after finishing production in
Vancouver on his American cable drama Higher Ground. He plays a bad boy with a drug
problem on the series, which is set at a wilderness school and will air this year on
Hamilton's ONtv.
Other credits for Christensen, who has been acting since he was eight or nine, include
current feature film The Virgin Suicides, the recent ABC-TV movie Trapped In A Purple Haze
and guest roles on the Canadian series Forever Knight, Are You Afraid Of The Dark? and
Goosebumps.
Just as a bit of trivia, but did you
know Hayden Christensen is apparantly also the name for a make of yacht?
HAYDEN CHRISTENSEN PROFILE:
Born: April 19, 1981 in Vancouver
Raised: In Toronto
Hair: Blonde
Eyes: Brown
Height: 6ft 1ins
Weight: 159 pounds
Favourite food: Pizza
Favourite colour: Blue
Favourite band: Our Lady Peace
Hayden already has several fan sites. Here's a few of them: Hayden's Gallery Renee's Hayden Page Hayden's Haven Piscess Hayden
Acting credits:
The Virgin Suicides (feature movie)
Trapped In A Purple Haze (TV movie)
Higher Ground (TV series)
The Famous Jett Jackson (TV guest role)
Forever Knight (TV guest role)
Freefall (TV movie)
Danielle Steel's No Greater Love (TV movie)
Harrison Bergeron (TV movie)
In The Mouth Of Madness (feature movie)
Love And Betrayal: The Mia Farrow Story (TV movie)
Street Law (feature movie)
Family Passions (TV series)
Are You Afraid Of The Dark? (TV guest role)
Goosebumps (TV guest role)