The Soon to be Superstar Posted By Joshua on April 22, 2002
The Age talks about the soon to be sensation Hayden Christensen in a feature length article. Here's a clip we received from Jason H.:
Hayden Christensen, the tall, 20-year-old, dirty-blond Canadian actor shuffling towards me in the National Youth Theatre in north London, has an interesting future: he has been cast as Anakin Skywalker, the lead role in Attack of the Clones, George Lucas's next Star Wars film. This means that he might be the next Harrison Ford, who got his first big break in Star Wars and went on to be one of the world's most popular leading men. On the other hand, Christensen might be the next Mark Hamill, who also got his first big break in Star Wars, and who did not go on to be one of the world's most popular leading men.
Anakin Skywalker is a dream part - he is the Jedi warrior with the weird, neo-mullet haircut who will eventually become Darth Vader. He also gets to have an affair with Natalie Portman, and travel through galaxies along with Ewan McGregor and Samuel L.Jackson - heaven, for a kid who grew up loving Star Wars, and who reportedly made excited whooshing noises while he wielded his light sabre on set. In May Christensen will be the hottest young actor in the world. Right now, though, he is an unknown kid lighting up a Camel in a rehearsal room.
Christensen is meticulously scruffy in a T-shirt and jeans and big boots with the laces undone. "People ask me if I'm preparing for when Star Wars comes out," he says. "But I don't understand how you prepare for fame. My preparation is giving it as little thought as possible."
Ewan McGregor has told him to relish the short time of relative anonymity he has left. Christensen knows that in a few weeks' time he will be drinking soft drinks from cans with pictures of his face printed on them. "I don't really have an understanding of it," he says. "It doesn't make sense to me. It was never something I sought. I think if you do, you're a little deranged."
We sit down at a table. Christensen takes out another Camel from his crushed pack. He looks like he might be the sort of guy who says "dude" a lot. George Lucas has said of him: "He's one of these slightly brooding young Turks in the Marlon Brando/James Dean mould." For Anakin Skywalker, Lucas needed somebody who was "charismatic, boyish and likeable" but who also "had the ability to turn bad in the next film". When I ask Christensen which actors he likes, he mentions John Turturro and Billy Crudup. In his mind, he's more of an art-house than a blockbuster guy.