Hayden Christensen

• 1. Introduction

  ›

  Hayden Christensen got the role of Anakin Skywalker only after a casting director reviewed about 1,500 other candidates. George Lucas's first choice, Leonardo DiCaprio, had already turned the film down. Lucas explained his choice by saying he needed an actor who has "that presence of the Dark Side." That presence was central to the story Lucas wanted to tell, Anakin's fall from grace into Darth Vader. Before that casting call, Christensen had already spent years as a working actor. He started on Canadian television as a child, then moved into American film and television. What shaped a child performer into someone Lucas saw as the face of the Dark Side? How did opinion of his performance shift across the two decades that followed?

• 2. A Family Of Actors

  ›

  Christensen was born on the 19th of April 1981 in Vancouver, British Columbia. His mother, Alie, worked as an American speechwriter, and his father, David Christensen, was a Canadian computer programmer and communications executive. Alie's ancestry is Swedish and Italian, while David's family is of Danish descent. Christensen is one of four children, and three of his siblings became actors too: his older brother Tove, older sister Hejsa, and younger sister Kaylen. Each summer, he spent time on Long Island with his maternal grandmother, Rose Schwartz.

  He attended Unionville High School in Markham, Ontario, where he competed in hockey and played tennis at a provincial level. Alongside standard classes, he studied in the Arts York drama program and later trained at the Actors Studio in New York City. His path into acting started almost by accident. He tagged along when his older sister went to her agent's office after landing a role in a Pringles commercial. That visit led to Christensen being cast in commercials himself, including a 1988 spot for Triaminic cough syrup.

• 3. From Commercials To Critical Praise

  ›

  In September 1993, at age 12, Christensen made his acting debut with a supporting role on the German-Canadian series Macht der Leidenschaft, known in English as Family Passions. The following year he took a minor part in John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness. Between 1995 and 1999, he moved through a string of film and television roles. These included Harrison Bergeron, Forever Knight, Goosebumps, The Virgin Suicides, and Are You Afraid of the Dark?

  In 2000, Christensen took the lead in Fox Family Channel's series Higher Ground, playing a teenager sexually molested by his stepmother who turned to drugs. Life as a House, released in 2001, brought him a Golden Globe nomination and a Screen Actors Guild nomination. It also earned him the National Board of Review's award for Breakthrough Performance of the Year. Even with that acclaim, the performance did not reach a wide public. In 2002, he made his London stage debut alongside Jake Gyllenhaal and Anna Paquin in This Is Our Youth.

  Shattered Glass, released in 2003, told the true story of journalist Stephen Glass, who fabricated stories while writing for The New Republic and other publications. Rolling Stone's Peter Travers called Christensen "sensational as Glass, finding the wonder boy and the weasel in a disturbed kid flying high on a fame he hasn't earned." Two years later, Christensen made a brief Broadway appearance in a 10-minute play. That same year, he joined the fifth annual 24 Hour Plays benefit, which raises money for nonprofit groups in New York.

• 4. Building The Dark Side

  ›

  On the 12th of May 2000, Christensen announced he would play the adult Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars prequels. He would appear in Episode II - Attack of the Clones and Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. Jake Lloyd had already played Anakin as a child in Episode I - The Phantom Menace, released in 1999. Christensen told Star Wars Insider in 2005 that bridging the gap between Lloyd's innocent boy and the villain Vader had proven difficult. His co-star Ewan McGregor had Alec Guinness's performance to draw on for Obi-Wan Kenobi; Christensen had no equivalent to study for Anakin. He said, "Ultimately, I had to be the linear connection between the Anakin that Jake Lloyd played, and capture Darth Vader as portrayed by Sebastian Shaw when he was demasked in Return of the Jedi."

  During filming of Revenge of the Sith, Christensen asked Lucas whether a Vader suit could be built to fit his own body. He wanted to avoid reusing one of the sets worn by David Prowse in the original trilogy. Lucas agreed, and the new suit included extensions that let Christensen reach Vader's 6-foot-6 height. His voice inside the mask, however, was dubbed by James Earl Jones, the actor who had made that voice famous in the original films.

  Christensen was inserted into the 2004 DVD release of Return of the Jedi, replacing Sebastian Shaw as the Force ghost of the redeemed Anakin Skywalker. Lucas wanted Anakin's true self restored in that final image. Christensen said the change was made without his knowledge, something Lucasfilm confirmed in a featurette made for the 2006 DVD release. Reviews of his performance in Episode II and III were mixed at the time. Critics often traced the trouble to Lucas's directing and dialogue rather than to Christensen himself. Even so, cast and crew praised him on set. Anthony Daniels, who played C-3PO, called Christensen "such a hero, and a terrific, clever actor" around the time Attack of the Clones was released. Daniels also watched Christensen wearing the Vader costume on set during filming of Revenge of the Sith. He said, "I've lived with Darth Vader for years, but there was something about Hayden being in the costume.... He had a presence. I cared that this nice guy had become this ultimate vision of evil."

• 5. A Slow Reappraisal

  ›

  In his 2019 memoir, Anthony Daniels praised Christensen and Ewan McGregor for their lightsaber duel in Revenge of the Sith, calling it "marvellous." Reflecting on the shift in 2022, Christensen said, "It's like those films had a gestation period, where they needed a little time to ferment in the public psyche. The reception that the films have now, it's very heartwarming."

  People magazine named Christensen to its 50 Most Beautiful People list, and Teen People included him among its 25 Hottest Stars under 25. For his performance in Revenge of the Sith, he won the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain. That same period also brought him the Cannes Film Festival's Trophée Chopard.

• 6. Beyond The Saga

  ›

  Between 2006 and 2007, Christensen starred opposite Jessica Alba in Awake, playing a man who remains conscious but paralyzed during heart surgery. Around the same time, he co-starred with Sienna Miller and Guy Pearce in Factory Girl. Jumper, released on the 14th of February 2008, cast him as a young man who discovers he can teleport. His co-stars included Samuel L. Jackson, Jamie Bell, and Rachel Bilson. Bilson and Christensen appeared together again in a segment of New York, I Love You. He also starred opposite Mischa Barton in Virgin Territory, based on The Decameron. The film follows people escaping the Black Plague by hiding in a Tuscan villa. It was released direct-to-DVD in North America on the 26th of August 2008.

  In October 2009, Christensen began shooting the horror film Vanishing on 7th Street with director Brad Anderson, co-starring Thandiwe Newton and John Leguizamo. He appeared in the crime drama Takers with Idris Elba and Paul Walker, released in the United States on the 27th of August 2010. He also voiced a character in Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey, his fourth film alongside Samuel L. Jackson.

  In the early 2000s, Christensen and his brother Tove formed a production company called Forest Park Pictures. It went on to produce Shattered Glass and Vanishing on 7th Street. In 2010, Christensen sued USA Network, alleging the network had stolen his idea for the show Royal Pains after he pitched a similar series called Housecalls. A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit in 2011. In June 2012, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that ruling. The case was sent back to the district court, a result seen as a legal win for Christensen.

  On the 20th of May 2013, during the Cannes Film Festival, the Russian company Enjoy Movies announced Glacier Films, an alliance with Christensen and Tove. Over three years, the venture planned to produce 11 "micro-budget" movies at about $1.5 million each. The first of those, American Heist, starred Christensen alongside Adrien Brody and Jordana Brewster and began filming in June 2013. It was a remake of Steve McQueen's The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery. Christensen followed that with the 2014 action drama Outcast opposite Nicolas Cage and the 2015 film 90 Minutes in Heaven with Kate Bosworth. That same year, filming began on an unreleased World War II Nazi zombie film called Untöt. In 2017 he appeared in First Kill with Bruce Willis. In 2018 he starred in the romantic comedy Little Italy with Emma Roberts and in the drama The Last Man.

• 7. Coming Back To A Galaxy

  ›

  A few years after the Walt Disney Company acquired Lucasfilm, Christensen returned to voice Anakin Skywalker in 2019's Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. He had no involvement in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, but he praised it afterward: "I loved what they did with it. The character predates me, and it's always been a collective effort in a lot of ways. I thought it was brilliant."

  Christensen also received a voice credit alongside Matt Lanter for "Shattered," the penultimate episode of the final season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The dialogue, though, reused archival audio from Revenge of the Sith. On the 22nd of October 2021, reports said Christensen would reprise Anakin for the Disney+ series Ahsoka. In May 2022, he returned to the role of Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader in the limited series Obi-Wan Kenobi. The performance earned positive reviews that noted a marked improvement over his prequel-era work. He also appeared in the documentary special Obi-Wan Kenobi: A Jedi's Return, which premiered on Disney+ Day, the 8th of September 2022.

  In 2023, Christensen appeared in four episodes of Ahsoka, digitally de-aged for the role. He was first seen wearing his Revenge of the Sith outfit, then one resembling what Anakin wore in the early seasons of The Clone Wars. His portrayal again drew positive reviews. On the 19th of April 2025, at Star Wars Celebration Japan, Christensen said he would reprise the role in Ahsoka's second season. Six days later, on the 25th of April 2025, he and Samuel L. Jackson surprised the audience at a 20th-anniversary screening of Revenge of the Sith in Los Angeles. There, Christensen said he had "so many amazing memories of making" that film.

  Christensen has attended Star Wars Celebration conventions as a guest since 2017. At one, in Chicago in April 2019, he told Matt Lanter, "I love what you guys are doing. Thanks for keeping Star Wars alive."

• 8. Life Off Set

  ›

  In 2007, Christensen began dating actress Rachel Bilson, his co-star in Jumper. They got engaged on the 25th of December 2008. The couple broke up in mid-2010 but got back together a few months later. On the 29th of October 2014, Bilson gave birth to their daughter. The couple separated in September 2017.

  That same year, 2007, Christensen bought a farm near Uxbridge, Ontario. By 2008 he said he had been renovating the property himself while learning about "livestock, crops, and agricultural machinery." The farm also includes a vegetable garden and an apple orchard. In November 2013, he partnered with the Canadian fashion chain RW&Co on a men's clothing line inspired by the farm. Speaking to the Los Angeles Times in 2015, Christensen explained that the farm helped him avoid feeling too entitled as an actor. He said, "I guess I felt like I had this great thing in Star Wars that provided all these opportunities and gave me a career, but it all kind of felt a little too handed to me. I didn't want to go through life feeling like I was just riding a wave." He knew stepping back would affect his work but said he wasn't bothered by it. By 2023, at a convention, he revealed he had hand-built several fishing ponds on the property, complete with water features and plumbing he installed himself.

  Christensen is an avid fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs and enjoys playing the piano. In 2008, he recorded a public service announcement for Do Something's Teens for Jeans campaign. He modelled for Louis Vuitton's advertising and became the face of Lacoste's fragrance, Lacoste Challenge. He also appeared in RED's Lazarus Effect campaign, which raises awareness for efforts to fight AIDS in Africa. In 2018, Christensen played for the World XI team in the annual Soccer Aid charity match, raising funds for UNICEF.

  On the 15th of August 2025, Christensen threw the ceremonial first pitch at a Chicago Cubs game, walking to the mound in a Cubs jersey numbered 66, a nod to "Order 66" from Star Wars.