When actor Hayden Christensen was only 19, he was cast as the Star Wars prequel version of young Anakin Skywalker—one of the most important characters in an intensely beloved franchise. And though many performances from great actors! Not even actor Ahmed Best , who had the advantage of hiding his real face behind the hated animated character of Jar Jar Binks, was as thoroughly shunned by the adult Star Wars fandom when the prequels came out.
But a funny thing happened on the way to Star Wars Celebration this year. It turns out that in the 15 years since the franchise ended incidentally, the last time Christensen showed his face at Celebration , the very young Star Wars watchers who actually liked the made-for-kids prequels grew into adult Christensen fans.
So when Christensen took the stage this past week for the 40th Anniversary Star Wars Celebration panel, he was greeted—much to the puzzlement of some old-school Star Wars fans—with thunderous applause and cheers from the thousands in attendance. There were a lot of things that lent themselves toward people complaining about Christensen as Anakin.
But none of that is worth Christensen having been so hated by Star Wars fans that he spent a solid decade not attending Star Wars Celebration. He has suffered long enough. Yes, there is a myriad of talented, unrealistically amazing child actors out there in the world, but the average year-old can barely make a grilled cheese without burning it, let alone carry the weight of an entire generation-spanning franchise on their backs.
Christensen was playing a year-old Anakin Skywalker at 19 with the world watching, standing next to the likes of Ewan McGregor, Samuel L. What's with playing younger Anakin? It's like a cursed role. But interestingly enough, Christensen didn't give up acting because Anakin ruined his career. In fact, Christensen probably would have come out unscathed as his two other co-stars Portman and McGregor did, if he wasn't his own worst enemy, that is. Maybe he was seduced by the Dark Side , and that's why his career went down the Sarlacc pit.
When Lucas first started casting for an older Anakin Skywalker, he had 1, actors to go through. But for some reason, Lucas settled on the relatively unknown Christensen because he "needed an actor who has that presence of the Dark Side," and he apparently had it. We're not sure if that's a compliment or not. Lucas picking Christensen wasn't a total surprise; he's always loved choosing unknown actors for his films. Anakin took his stardom to the next level. Jake Lloyd and Hayden Christensen got a lot of criticism, prompting Lloyd to retire from acting.
The revisiting and reevaluation of the Star Wars prequels have come with a radical change in the opinions of many fans. A lot have forgiven Star Wars: The Phantom Menace , even finding some silver linings among the mess, while many others have decided to let go of their hate towards Hayden Christensen.
The reasons behind this are many, but the main ones are that those who grew up with the sequels and whose first approach to the Star Wars universe were the prequels, are giving them another shot mainly for nostalgia reasons, which in turn means accepting Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker.
The reaction to Christensen has changed a lot in the last years, with him being very well received by Star Wars fans all over the world whenever he attends conventions and other public events. The most notable films in his post- Star Wars career are Jumper and Takers , and he has only appeared in smaller films in the last years.
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