When he first portrayed Darth Vader in the much-panned Star Wars prequels 20 years ago, fans vented their anger at him. So why is he risking more in a new TV series? He talks about George Lucas, the pressures of fame and his love of bulldozers
Hayden Christensen has a confession to make. “I have a seven-year old-daughter; I have not shown her Star Wars,” the actor says, as though he has just admitted a shameful secret. “I know! I know! I feel like I’m probably dragging my feet a little bit at this point, because all of her friends have seen the movies. And, of course, she’s aware of my involvement in them.”
Christensen’s hesitancy is perhaps to be expected. When he took on the roles of Anakin Skywalker and Skywalker’s later incarnation, Darth Vader, in the Star Wars prequels Attack of the Clones (2002) and Revenge of the Sith (2005), fans of the franchise had had a quarter of a century in which to form their ideas about the characters. And many of them couldn’t stomach seeing Darth Vader portrayed as a petulant, whiny brat. Even though George Lucas had directed and co-written the movies, Christensen became the lightning rod for their resentment. “Poor Hayden. His performance is great. They just don’t like the character,” Lucas said when Revenge of the Sith came out. “I think it just goes back to the sort of ownership that people feel towards these characters,” Christensen suggests today. “It’s almost like public domain. These characters really do belong to everybody.”
