So, I watched Episode II for first time in 8 months...

I've always felt people make the mistake of thinking Hayden is stiff or wooden in some scenes.

I've always looked at it like this: Hayden is trying to act like Anakin thinks a Jedi should. What I mean by this is, Anakin either believes or was taught to believe a Jedi should portray or carry themself a certain way. That is to say wearing one's emotions on their sleave is a bad thing.

I think Hayden really put that into the Anakin character. He's torn between his duty as a Jedi and the emotions and happiness he's experiencing because of his love for Padme. He tries to behave like an adult or a perfect Jedi at times but it's not his true self. Anakin tries to act like things don't affect him, and Hayden makes it painfully clear. Appearing stiff or wooden is Anakin trying to shrug things off, not poor acting on Hayden's part.

IMO Hayden is a terrific actor and I couldn't think of anyone better to play Anakin. Ever.

 

IMO Hayden is a terrific actor and I couldn't think of anyone better to play Anakin. Ever.

No arguements here!! Dialogue aside, just watch his body language and his facial expressions along with the way he speaks. You can clearly hear traces of the little boy he once was (Jake Lloyd) as well as body language and voice inflections (David PRowse and James Earl Jones) that are clearly indicitive of what we see in Vader. That is alot of performances to combine.. This boy has done his homework and then some.. The fact that he is drop dead gorgeous is just icing on the already quite tastey cake.

 

I agree. He's combined the Vader character and the 10 year old Anakin character, beautifully.