Hayden Christensen on the “surreal” experience of returning to play Darth Vader
By Dan Selcke
The internet is abuzz over Ewan McGregor returning to the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi in the upcoming Star Wars TV show, Obi-Wan Kenobi. But he’s not the only cast member from the Star Wars prequels coming back: Hayden Christensen, who played Anakin Skywalker in those movies, is here as well, and this time he’ll be playing Darth Vader at the height of his power.
“I don’t know what I can share in terms of behind-the-scenes type stuff because I don’t think they want me saying too much,” Christensen told Entertainment Weekly. “But I can tell you the first time that I saw Ewan as Obi-Wan again, that was a very special moment for me and one that I’ll remember for a very, very long time.”
"[W]ithout getting into too much detail, it was amazing. It’s a great honor to get to put that suit on."
Obi-Wan Kenobi will have “a natural continuation” of Darth Vader’s journey
Christensen spent most of the prequels sans Darth Vader suit; that only became necessary at the very end, when Obi-Wan left him for dead on the flaming world of Mustafar. He only wore the iconic black outfit for one scene.
That said, apparently it was easy to slip back in, even 17 years later. “It was mostly a lot of excitement because I had spent enough time with this character and felt like I knew him, and coming back to it felt very natural in a lot of ways,” Christensen said. “And I was just really excited to get to come in and play Darth Vader at this point in the timeline because it did feel like a natural continuation of your journey with the character. And that was very meaningful for me.”
"The whole experience was very surreal. Just the nature of coming back after all this time. It’s such a unique opportunity — one that both Ewan and I were very grateful for."
Obi-Wan Kenobi is set after Revenge of the Sith but before A New Hope. Obi-Wan is living in self-imposed exiled on Tatooine and keeping a watchful eye of the young Luke Skywalker. Darth Vader, meanwhile, is out being an Imperial boss. We know the two will have a rematch at some point, although we don’t yet know the details.
Still, the prospect has fans very interested. “One of the things I loved so much about working on Star Wars projects is just that shared excitement,” Christensen said. “That everyone’s real excited to be there. You feel that energy, and that’s a really special thing.”
Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi premiere delayed
Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi premieres on Disney+ on Wednesday, May 25…or at least it was. In a surprise move, Disney released a video today revealing that the premiere is being pushed by a couple of days to Friday, May 27. And instead of just airing the premiere on that day, Disney will drop the first two episodes of the show. After that, episodes will come out one by one on Wednesdays.
Why the change? I have no idea. Also, don’t you wanna release your new Star Wars show on May the 4th? Whatever, I don’t program for Disney.
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