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The Haydenssance is in full effect.
When Revenge of the Sith was released in 2005, it appeared to be both the end of the Star Wars film franchise and Hayden Christensen’s time playing Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader. But after Disney purchased Lucasfilm in 2012, the franchise revved back up with a new trilogy, two other standalone films, and even a live-action series on the company’s streaming service. But Christensen's return still seemed a longshot.
For one thing, his character was, like, super dead. For another, Christensen seemed happiest spending time on his Canadian farm, as opposed to on a set. And who could blame him after all the slings and arrows the prequel films took from critics. But after a 17-year journey with more twists and turns than the Boonta Eve Classic, Christensen made his celebrated comeback alongside Ewan McGregor on Disney+'s Obi-Wan Kenobi. And he wasn’t done.
Fans had their proverbial socks knocked off when Christensen made a surprise appearance on episode 5 of Ahsoka, showing up in the World Between Worlds to both tempt, taunt, and mentor his former apprentice in the creative highpoint of the season. Even more excited than viewers was Christensen himself, who calls getting to play a live-action Clone Wars Anakin “a gift” and says, “when I was reading the script for the first time of episode 5, I was like a giddy little boy.”
Christensen sat down with EW’s Dagobah Dispatch podcast to talk all about his work on Ahsoka, playing Anakin for the first time as a master, crossing lightsabers with Rosario Dawson and Ariana Greenblatt, and what he wants to do next. Portions of that chat are below, and to listen to the entire interview, check out the latest episode of the Dagobah Dispatch.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: So when you first signed on to come back for Obi-Wan Kenobi, did you know then that you would be also be appearing on Ahsoka?
HAYDEN CHRISTENSEN: No, I did not. I had heard about the Ahsoka project, but there was no mention of my involvement when we were doing the Obi-Wan show. And it wasn't really until we wrapped on that when I got a really nice phone call from Dave Filoni and John Favreau sort of inviting me into the fold.
What was your reaction to that call when they explained what they wanted you to do?
I was thrilled. I mean, any opportunity to get to do more with this character is thoroughly exciting for me. And to get to work with Dave Filoni and follow his lead was just a real privilege. He knows this character so well and just the way he had conceived of incorporating him into this story I thought was just so smart and just a very sort of compelling take on the character and it was all just really, really thrilling.
So what is your take on the Anakin we see here in the World Between Worlds? Because you got to play a lot of different shades of the character in a pretty compact period of time.
I really just wanted to bring to life what was on the page. What Dave wrote was just so exciting. I was getting to play a version of this character that I hadn't done before. And when we meet Anakin in the World Between Worlds, it's sort of me getting to play the totality of Anakin and Darth Vader. It's an understanding of everything that he's been through. And then when we go back to the Clone Wars flashback, that was just awesome.
That was a version of the character that I was aware of when we were doing the prequels. When we went to go do Episode III, George [Lucas] spoke a lot about what had happened in between Episode II and Episode III. And, of course, that was what Dave Filoni spent a lot of time exploring in the animated world, but I never really got to play that. And I remember when George was describing Anakin during the Clone Wars as being this great hero and a great leader, I thought, “Wow, that's really cool. I wish we could see a little bit of that.” And we do a little bit. At the beginning of Episode III, you get a taste of it, but then very quickly he becomes consumed with all of the inner conflict again.
And then when I went and was preparing for Obi-Wan, I went and I watched The Clone Wars and I got to see that version of Anakin. I was very taken with it and I thought, “Man, that would be really exciting to get to do that in live action." And so when Dave told me that we were going to get to do that, it was a real gift and I was just felt very privileged to get to do it.
So you bring this character of Anakin to life on screen in the films, then Matt Lanter takes it over for The Clone Wars animated series basing a lot of what he does off of what you did. And now you come back here and you’re playing a character you started with, but now Matt has added his shades to. So how did you approach that, especially in terms of Anakin’s relationship to Ahsoka, which was something you had no experience with?
Yeah, there's definitely something sort of meta going on there. I am playing a character that I played 20 years ago, and so obviously there's a need for continuity, but this is also a time in his life that we haven't seen in live action. So there's a little bit of freedom there. But it's very well described in the animated work that Dave did with Matt Lanter. And I don't know how much it informed the decisions I was making, but certainly I watched a lot of it. So probably through some version of osmosis or something, I took some of that.
But it was an interesting exercise in my craft. I wasn't wanting to do an impersonation of the work that I had done before, but I wanted to approach it from the same place. Of course, I'm a little older now, and so you have a different take on things, but my approach was very much the same and I loved what they presented in The Clone Wars in the animated show, so I was excited to get to bring that to live action. And then establishing the dynamic between Anakin and Ahsoka — the stakes were high because there were a lot of people that were already invested in that relationship and this was the first time that we were getting to see it in live action.
Lucasfilm
It's also the first time we've seen you play Anakin as a Master. We've only seen you play him the Padawan or having Obi-Wan as the older brother type, so that must have been fun for you to delve into that.
I loved getting to do that. It's a side of Anakin that is just very compelling, very confident, and I think he is a good teacher to Ahsoka, and you see that he really does care about her. So it was important for us to get that across too. But Rosario and I go back. We met each other when we were both teenagers, so there is a natural kind of rapport there and it was so cool to get to do this with her.
And then with Ariana too, when we were doing the stuff with young Ahsoka — she was phenomenal. They couldn't have cast the role better. So it was all set up for us to win. That was a great feeling, and I just loved how Dave conceived it and guided us through it. And the end result, I was very happy with. I really loved how it came out.
Everyone always talks about your lightsaber prowess. so how was it getting to mix it up with Rosario and Ariana, and how did those compare to your battles with Ewan?
I mean, any chance I get to swing a lightsaber is an awesome opportunity. And when I was reading the script for the first time of episode 5, I was like a giddy little boy. I was like, “Oh, I'm going to get to do all this awesome action!” And I couldn't sit down. I was pacing around the room just reading the script, and I remember putting it down halfway through and I messaged Dave and I was just thanking him profusely.
It's a lot of fun to get to do the lightsaber stuff, and there's a lot of training that goes into that. You spend a decent amount of time with your scene partner and learning the fights. And it's a really important process — not just being able to do the fights, but developing a rapport with the person that you're working with because you're swinging a lightsaber at them. So there's an element of trust that needs to get established and you develop a rhythm and you find your timing. So it's all really helpful.
Listen to the full conversation with Hayden Christensen on EW's Dagobah Dispatch podcast.
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