CT Is Hayden Christensen in The Empire Strikes Back?

During an interview with Rebel Force Radio, JW Rinzler, author of the Making Of Star Wars books, says what we all know which is that Ian McDiarmid shot the hologram scene from Empire during picks ups on Revenge Of The Sith. What's blowing my mind right now though is that he also says that Hayden Christensen was a part of that shoot in full Darth Vader costume and that there are shots in the hologram scene with the Emperor where it's Hayden Christensen you're seeing in the suit.

Rinzler speculates that it may be shots from behind Vader that show Hayden but he's not sure. Am I nuts? Is this common knowledge already? Because it's kinda blowing my mind right now.

Timestamp: 19:20

 

If so that’s wholly new information

 

He's asked whether he actually meant the Death Star reveal scene from ROTS but he specifically says it's the hologram scene. That's crazy if true. Awesome...but crazy.

 

Weird that has never been mentioned before ever

 

Indeed, although it's exactly the kind of thing Lucas would do.

 

While interesting, I don't see what shot it could be. All the shots of Vader in the new version can also be seen in the original (with some cropping and mirroring). It'd be cool though.

 

Maybe it was shot but not used?

 

I'm just waiting for them to redub Vader's voice with Christensen. You know, the OT has been ruined with PT retcons so much already, why not put the cherry on the cake!

 

That’s what I suspect as well

 

Thank you for your great opinion. Oh wise one

 

My pleasure! But seriously, you can't approve of things like putting Christensen at the end of ROTJ, can you? It might sound like I'm bashing Christensen, which can't be further from the truth. Why blame the actors for what their bosses do? That's madness! Why blame him, Lloyd, or that Asian actress in the ST for how the films turned out? They're just puppets doing what their bosses tell them to do. I also hear that Christensen was totally unaware of what Lucas did by inserting that image of him in ROTJ. Nope, for me the buck ALWAYS stops at the boss, 100%.

 

I've been listening to him, and to me he sounds more scared of repercussions if he upsets Lucas. Lucas comes across as being a very passive aggressive vindictive sort, who wont show his anger up front, but instead will casually fire or sue someone who even dares cross him. Often he'll get one of his lawyers or stooges to do it rather than do it himself.

 

lol can you imagine? "I can never do anything!!!!!" in whiny child's voice...

 

Vader in ESB: "It's not fair! It's all Admiral Ozzel's fault we came out of light speed too close to the system!"

 

I still laugh to this day when I watch Episodes II and III. I still like those films in their own right.

 

I wonder what Vader would kick when he gets in one of his Anakin strops? They don't seem to have cats in the Star Wars universe, so maybe a Mouse Droid?

 

Is it a character error, or is it the character maturing as he got older? (age 20 vs age 44)

 

Was he really 44 by ROTJ? Sorry, I've never done the maths. I know that Sebastian Shaw was more in his 70's when he was in ROTJ. If he was supposed to be 44, then he didn't wear well inside that suit, did he!

 

It's either that or (most likely) Rinzler not remembering things correctly (it's been 17 years!)

There are many reasons to doubt this story.
-Rinzler himself describes the DVD shot of the Emperor in his book, with absolutely no mention of Hayden being there.
-Moreso, the first day Hayden wore the costume is described as a big event, and it was weeks later.
-Since Vader and the Emperor appear in different proportions (the Emperor's head is much bigger than Vader), it makes absolutely no sense that they would be shot together. Even more so considering the Emperor is a hologram. Every hologram in SW has been shot separately.
-Rinzler mentions shots from behind Vader, but there are none. Every Vader shot that you see is clearly from Empire, and the Emperor was shot using the same two angles of the original film (close up and side shot), in order to insert him in the original background plates.
-Rinzler mentions Ian McDiarmid showing up at the end of the day in the Emperor makeup, but that is incorrect as well, since during that day they had been shooting the senate scene from Revenge, and Ian McDiarmid is in the exact same makeup for the DVD pickup (which, as many people have complained, doesn't exactly match the makeup from Return of the Jedi).

So, no new shots of Vader were ever used, there is absolutely no sense of shooting Vader and a huge head hologram of the Emperor together in the same shot, and the reports from that time contradict what Rinzler is saying.
My money is on him remembering some other scene of Anakin/Palpatine, and being incorrect.

(And this is why you should never take at face value what people say about events from the past).

 

At least it would have been a far more enjoyable experience than reading your replies.

 

Luke: "There’s something not right here. I feel cold, death...a little Lucas fanboy..."

 

How about sticking to the topic instead of unrelated bashing or calling people names?

 

You mean me or "antitoxicgamer" because he doesn't agree with me?

 

That can't be me then, because I was defending him and the other actors in the franchise. I always blame the boss for how the company's run, not the elves.