PT Did Hayden do a good job as Anakin?

I just did not like the way he looked, I don't think he looks like TCW him.

 

So your saying you don't like how he looked because a cartoon character based on him looked differently?

?

 

How you read appearance/manner can effect perception, yes.

 

That's why I was so surprised, because I watched the PT growing up, and I know from experience that most people (myself included) are happy if they get more than a few coherent words out around someone they are attracted too. I was like - Hey, there's me on screen! Lol. Yes, Anakin was older, but since he was a Jedi I think he was about 10 years behind in the romance department.

Hayden was very good and is really underrated. I could not see anyone else playing Anakin.

 

The_Phantom_Calamari Darkslayer

Now that I think about it, you're right. If you haven't said anything corny or extremely cheesy to your significant other, it's because you haven't been that in love. God knows we've all said more than our fair share of stuff that most people would laugh at and/or find cringe inducing.

 

Comparing a real person to how a digital/animated version looks?

 

Or when we're talking to someone else about them - that's probably even more embarrassing

 

Why didn't Hayden's acting career go well after SW? Most of the SW PT actors went well, even some of those with cameo appearances like Keira Knightley and Richard Armitage.

 

I think he did the best he could considering what he had to work with.

I remember reading somewhere that there was a scene that Anakin wanted to show more emotion and Lucas told him no, to play it straight, I can't remember which scene it was but after seeing it I remembered thinking Hayden was right.

 

Because his work was almost universally critically panned. His name became shorthand for "bad acting". Nobody could see him as anything other than the "whiny", "unlikable" Anakin Skywalker of the Star Wars prequels.

I believe you're thinking of the scene on Padme's balcony after Anakin comes back from his Jedi Temple raid. I think Hayden wanted to play it like Anakin was on the verge of breaking down, but Lucas told him he hadn't reached the point of self-realization yet, that he was still exulting in the flood of adrenaline from a job well done.

I agree with Lucas. If Anakin was already doubting himself at that point, I don't see how he could have continued to go through with all that he was doing.

 

I don't see that's an excuse. Many actors had bad work before but was able to prove themselves through good performance. As for SW, it's really not Hayden's fault, he was playing what Lucas asked him to play.

 

Type casting isn't solely the actor's doing. Often it's what they want to avoid most because it limits their ability to work. Perhaps Hayden simply decided to take a different path. Often the public and the industry feed into and create the mentality. Whatever he's doing, I hope he's well. It took me a while to reach this point but I agree with Slowpokeking here regarding that it was Lucas in part hindering him.

 

Hayden seems to be doing fairly well now. He's happily in a relationship.

 

He received quite his fair share of praise for his performance in Shattered Glass which was released post AOTC so I can't really get on board with what your saying as it showed critics and viewers were willing to look past his work as Anakin. Poor choices and poor performances have effectively stalled his career rather than people's unwavering perception.

He has two new films out this year so he may yet turn it around.

 

Hayden was Okay, in my opinion. Too bad there wasn't an older version of Jake Loid.

 

Hayden was okay as Anakin, but the version of the prequels in my head always had the character as more of an imposing leader, with aggressive but not necessarily impulsive tendencies. If the prequels were to have been made between 2009 to now, Chris Hemsworth would have made an amazing Anakin:

 

Especially a digital/animated version created after the fact?

 

Whiny, childish, lusty, arrogant, moody, argumentative, irresponsible, throw it all away over some girl..... wait-- sounds like my teenaged boys!

The flaws we see are of Anakin. We needed to connect with him, like him, understand his passions and internalize his drama so that we could feel his fall along with him.

Hayden pulled it off fabulously.

 

This

 

I agree I could not see anyone else playing Anakin in the PT.

 

Well, I most certainly did not "connect" with Anakin; understand him, sure, but I sure wish he had come across more balanced, you know - more like real people (granted, I am referring mainly to AoTC which "formed" my opinion and ROTS was not able to entirely overcome).

 

I didn't connect with Anakin either, Val. It upset me greatly as it's my natural inclination to connect to characters and see their humanity. I understood Anakin just fine but I'll never like him. I echo your longing for a more realistic balance in his manner.

 

He seems more relateable in AOTC than ROTS (probably because he was being a moron)

 

I can relate to him.

I will admit that I'm not very good around the opposite sex. (Anakin and Padme) I always feel like I make a fool of myself.

I feel like an outcast among my peers. (Anakin in the Order) Especially in high school. College is better, though I still feel that way sometimes.

 

Yeah exactly. Anakin was meant to be everything that people rag on Hayden for portraying. Out of pure technicality, he was probably the best actor in episode 2.