The third of four children, Christensen got into acting by way of familial competitiveness. His elder sister, a Junior World Trampoline champion had scored a spot in a Pringles commercial, and the 7-year-old Christensen tagged along as she interviewed talent agents. He ended up being scouted himself. He calls acting "this so-called craft where you pretend to be other people. And when you are 15 or 16 years old and trying to figure out who you are, well, it was something that really caught my interest."
By the time he was 12, he had a continuing role in the first Canadian television soap opera, the daily Family Passions. Christensen was a regular on the Fox Family Channel series Higher Ground, and was featured in Sofia Coppola’s acclaimed debut film The Virgin Suicides. But it was the role of the troubled teenager in Irwin Winkler’s 2001 drama Life as a House that brought Christensen his first critical acclaim. Last year, Christensen starred as disgraced New Republic journalist Stephen Glass in Shattered Glass, the first feature co-produced by his own production company, Forest Park Pictures. Christensen was born in Vancouver, Canada but his family later moved to the Toronto area, where he went to school and continues to reside.
In his personal life, Christensen has little tolerance for actorly introspection. He’s athletic, a spirited rider, a fearless snowboarder, and a tennis player with a wicked backhand. He’s also fun-loving, though not a glutton for publicity or attention, and hangs out most often with his brother, Tove.
For Christensen, playing Anakin meant the opportunity to bring a new level of sophistication and nuance to his performances. “The reasons behind Anakin’s choice are very much rooted in reality, in things that we all experience and can understand,” says Christensen. “I get to explore some really difficult territory with Anakin, and that’s exciting for me as an actor.”
Christensen, a long time Star Wars fan, didn’t just transform himself mentally – near the end of principal photography in Sydney, Australia, the physical transformation became complete. “Wearing the new Vader costume was something I had been looking forward to ever since I was cast as Anakin,” he says, adding that he had to gain more than 20 pounds of muscle to play the role. The suit, Christensen says, was also outfitted with a special apparatus that emulated the unforgettable sound of Vader’s mechanized breathing. “The costume and my performance as Vader would have felt incomplete without it.”
When Christensen first appeared on the set in the Darth Vader suit, producer Rick McCallum recalls, the entire Fox Studios lot came to a standstill. Everyone had heard about the appearance, and it seemed they all wanted to witness the moment for themselves. “Hundreds of people congregated on the set that day to watch Hayden. It was the moment we had been waiting for, and it was the most meaningful and poetic day of the entire shoot.”
The experience was a bit different for Christensen. “As excited as I was to be wearing the suit, I was just trying to stay on my feet, not to fall over and break the costume,” he laughs. Once the cameras started rolling and George shouted ‘Action,’ it was incredible. Being inside the suit really does make you feel powerful and evil. Even today, nearly two years afterward, I can’t forget it – and can’t quite articulate how it made me feel.”
“You'd be surprised, but you learn an awful lot from those films,” says Christensen about his Star Wars experience. The environment in which they are made really requires an overactive imagination. In a lot of ways, you can liken it to being on the stage, when you don't have all the stimulus you get when you're on location shooting a film. It really demands that you commit yourself to this supposed world that will later be imposed on the blue screens. You're acting to characters that aren't always there, and oftentimes, you're getting your dialogue delivered from an (assistant director) you know, reading the Yoda lines.
But now, except for the interviews, the premieres and the fanfare the Star Wars saga is complete for both George Lucas and Christensen. So what’s next? After Revenge of the Sith, Lucas has vowed to go back to his roots to make smaller, more artistic films although he is not saying exactly what those projects are. "I don't know what it is," he said. "I'm not there yet."
And for Christensen? Could it be that his next real challenge is just beginning-trying to escape the Mark Hamill syndrome—that is, attempting to leave theStar Wars universe and build a conventional movie career? "I haven't been dealing with that dilemma thus far," he says. "I'm not really concerned about it, either, though maybe I should be, given how many times I'm asked about it,” he has said.
He continues, “I just want to do work that I find fulfilling and challenging and that's going to make me grow as an actor; I'm really in it for myself and the fulfillment I get out of the work. Doing things that are challenging and different from what I've done in the past (is) what's going to keep me happy and keep me on edge.”
He concludes, “At the end of the day, I'd like to be remembered as a nice guy; that's what's most important to me. I find the work fulfilling. But as far as what people think of me, I think kindness is the only thing that really matters and the only thing that has any real staying power. Celebrity can be like vapor -- it dissipates very quickly. Who you are is what has staying power.”
Next up for Christensen is The Decameron with The OC 's Mischa Barton which has already begun filming, and starring in Barry Levinson's Sixty-six, which will close out the director's “Baltimore” cycle. He also has assembled a crew of people he trusts to run his production company, Forest Park Pictures, not simply the vanity confection many young stars attach their names to but an actual creative enterprise that's currently developing an actual TV series he won’t actually talk about.
It takes some prodding, but Christensen admits: "I'm ready for the next leap in my life. You have to understand, when you put that helmet on, it's very hot and claustrophobic. Throughout the entire time I've been filming, the only thing I have going through my head is Darth Vader's evil-empire theme." He hums the ominous tune and smiles a bit sheepishly.
P.S. After six movies, George Lucas has revealed that he makes a cameo appearance in Sith, along with his adopted son and two daughters, who talked him into doing it. "I'm in there if you look," he says. "It's sort of a family portrait" Can you spot him?
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith premiered in several U.S. cities on May 12, then begins a series of European debuts starting at the Cannes film festival on May 15. It began playing for audiences in theaters worldwide starting on May 19.
George Lucas has indicated that he expects the Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith DVD to be released at Christmas time this year. Lucas made the comment in an interview with MTV.com, which reported that the DVD will offer five or six deleted scenes.
