PT Why Hayden Christensen Played Anakin PERFECTLY

This I love. The shade. The one and only Chosen One.

 

I always thought Hayden did a great job, could never understand the negativity. Sure, the dialogue was a bit clunky at times, but for me
I always felt that he was trying to deliver them as a young Vader would, giving an impression of how that famous JEJ voice might sound without
the mask. I appreciated that he gave his spin on that slow diction and emphasis.

 

I have made the same complaints about most, if not all Star Wars movies.

 

Fair enough. But I tend to think that TESB and ROTJ have pretty solid dialogue. Yoda and the Emperor in particular, but also Han and Obi-Wan.

 

Critics did indeed complain about the cheesy dialogue of the originals when they came out, even critics that praised the films, but to us now it's hard to see it, because it's fully engrained, familiar, and comes off as charming. To get a glimpse of how clunky it might be to fresh eyes, one only need to watch the deleted scenes for ESB or ANH, some of which we're just cut for time. They have no music, and to me at least, the dialogue is terrible.

 

The dialogue in AotC is notably worse than in other Star Wars movies - Lucas turned up to the shoot with an unfinished script, and was apparently redrafting in between scenes. It shows. Most of the dialogue in TPM and RotS is just about up to Star Wars 'par'. Good actors, however, make dodgy lines into classics - Alec Guiness, Peter Cushing, James Earl Jones etc... Hayden Christensen was unable to do this in AotC. His performance in the film is badly misjudged, but Lucas is the one responsible, just as he takes credit for the great performances in ANH. Hayden is somewhat improved in RotS - but I ask you to imagine what Adam Driver or another truly excellent young actor would have done with the role.

 

100%.

 

And yet, I enjoy his peformance. I guess I'm just lucky.

 

I enjoy it in RotS! He's good in that. He looks fantastic, he has lightsaber skillz. I mean, I enjoy AotC, and his performance is a major part of the film. Maybe I'm too haunted with what-might-have-beens when it comes to the trilogies either side of the OT. But yes, you are lucky!

 

In an effort to share some of my luck let me point to some of the Hayden moments I like in AOTC -

He is good at Vader-like brooding such as : When going into the bar and looking around and when he says 'This is Jedi business' and 'Tell us' to Zam.
Also, when he goes in search of Shmee, he has a great presence, especially when he comes back with her in his arms.
Basically whenever he needs to be dark and threatening it works and I'll admit that he struggles with the more light-hearted stuff, but then again, he IS supposed to be a future Vader. You can see this when he he goes from goofy, awkward light to dark when he looks up at Padme in the field and says
'well, if it works'....and then he just says he is teasing her. But you know deep down he isn't.

 

I think Hayden Christensen brought more nuance to the character than, say, Matt Lanter. Lanter's Anakin is fun, but his transitions from lighthearted Han Solo quips to angry "Imma kill you!" threats are jarring at times.

Christensen's Anakin brings a natural darkness that permeates the character without an Imperial March cue. I think Christensen does a great job of making Anakin's internal conflict visible without dialogue. I like the scene in ROTS when Obi-Wan leaves for Utapau and Anakin's face goes from a smile to a concerned/suspicious look.

 

I see them as one character. Like I said before, Anakin in Ep II an Ep III is in a very different mindset then in TCW. You can see his behaviour beeing similar in both performances when they are in similar situations. Anakin at the beginning of Ep III is the same as the TCW Anakin. TCW Anakin confronting Clovis is the same as Anakin in Ep III beeing afraid of Padme.

Lantner and Christiansen both brought great nunances to the character and fleshed him out perfectly. The whole body language of Hayden though is perfect and represents Pre-Vader perfectly.

 

I fully agree with all of this. I've always seen Hayden's performance of Anakin perfect for someone who turns to the darkside and becomes Darth Vader.

First, the mannerisms: He moves the way Vader did, he talks the way Vader did (especially throughout ROTS). I can totally imagine Hayden underneath that black helmet, so...mission accomplished IMO. I believe Hayden was acting/talking like this on purpose, in order to make the transition believable.

Second, the character himself: IMO Anakin Skywalker is THE best written character in SW, in terms of understanding his motivations, feeling his pain and anguish and relating to his choices. IMO GL did a great job showing us all that we need to make his ultimate turn to the darkside believable. NO ONE can say Anakin didn't get a complete character arc, or that his backstory is unsatisfactory.

Third, Anakin's personality and behavior: IMO the way Anakin is portrayed through the PT is perfect-an innocent minded prodigy destined for great things, an emotionally unstable teenager who is conflicted by raging hormones, the pressure of resisting all that he desires, and dealing with incredible losses. Finally he grows into an ambitious Jedi Knight who is widely celebrated throughout the galaxy, but still conflicted inside. This causes obsession and overambitious desire for control. And the Darkside is all about obtaining control. If GL gave us an innocent hero-type Anakin (like Luke), who always does the right thing and has a strong sense of morality and focus, his turn to the darkside would be quite hard to accept. It's easy for me to relate to Anakin's choices, which led to his frustration with the Jedi, fear of losing Padme, and desire to take control-believing he has the power to do so, because of his already immense power. Perhaps I wouldn't go as far as killing children though, but still....

 

Totally agree with that @DARTH_BELO

 

Great choice for Vader. He gets hate for no reason.

I wonder who the haters wanted in the part.

Edit: been sayin that for years upon years on Lucas's direction for Hayden *being* vader.

 

I've seen people claim DiCaprio or Paul Walker would have done a better job. I can't even imagine Di Caprio in a serious scene imitating the inflection of James Earl Jones and making it sound right. With Walker I felt like he might have just been a little too happy go lucky.

 

https://tatooinetimes.com/interview...enge-of-the-sith-interview-with-nick-gillard/

I just read this article from May and Nick Gillard says some great things about Hayden. I would love to see more behind the scenes stuff from ROTS most definitely.

 

I'd be curious to see a concrete list of who was actually in the final decisions. Id be even more curious to see audition tapes.

 

I'm curious for more ROTS behind the scenes. I think Hayden nailed it so who didn't get cast is of no interest to me.

 

It would have been fun to be on set with him. I can't get over the one in which he trips in Padme's hallway.

 

I find it interesting that, from my perspective, both Hayden Christensen and Mark Hamill, in their respective trilogies, deliver very good yet highly underrated performances. And their characters are the ones who change and develop the most over the course of each story.

 

Yes surprise the person that grew up to be Darth Vader was not perfectly normal. Who would of thought that an awkward, mal adjusted kid turned into one the most evil characters of all time, crazy.

 

No, I'd say as a kid he WAS perfectly normal, even kind and caring. It was later circumstances that made him change, as well as complete lack of understanding and care from the Jedi. They always treated him coldly, even Obi-Wan doesn't really give any true guidance, while Sidious showed him respect and fatherly understanding. Is is any wonder he became Darth Vader? No. The Jedi should have sensed that coming much earlier and provided more help.

 

I rewatched the Prequels and Hayden is perfect. He plays an Anakin whose passion for Padme is toxic, he worms his way into her heart through pity and emotional manipulation. You can see Vader just as much in his eyes when he is with Padme trying to convince her to love him as when he commits Tuskancide.

 

I saw a clip from the Kenobi promotional stuff where they asked Hayden what the biggest challenge that he had experienced was while filming for Star Wars and his answer was not making the lightsaber sounds with his mouth because he had done it so much while playing pretend as a kid growing up. It didn't seem worth its own thread, but I absolutely had to share this information somewhere.