Hayden Christensen’s Biggest Star Wars Struggle Was Absolutely Hilarious
Hayden Christensen had to stop himself from making lightsaber sound effects while filming Obi-Wan.
Over the years, Star Wars fans have grown fonder of Hayden Christensen’s portrayal of Anakin Skywalker, which is why it was exciting when he was brought back to play the character (and suit up as Vader) in the Obi-Wan Kenobi Disney+ series. Returning to a role after so many years is likely challenging, but Christensen’s biggest struggle with the role is pretty funny. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Christensen admitted the most difficult thing for him was not making the lightsaber sounds during fight scenes.
Hayden Christensen’s struggle is something most Star Wars fans can relate to. When you’re playing with lightsabers, you instinctually make the signature whirring and saber strike sounds during battle. It’s not hard to imagine the habit would be hard to break, even for a professional actor.
Hayden Christensen played the role of Anakin Skywalker in two Star Wars films, playing a pre-Vader Anakin in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. With all that lightsaber dueling, Christensen must have had quite the learning curve to reduce his lightsaber sound-making. Fortunately, it all worked out in the end, and we got some great lightsaber fights as a result.
Hayden Christensen appeared in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith way back in 2005, where we saw Anakin’s descent to the dark side. He finally got to return to the role in last year’s Obi-Wan Kenobi, where he played Anakin in flashbacks and played the physical part of Darth Vader (with James Earl Jones voicing him again.) Vader was undoubtedly one of the best parts of the series, and we’ll be seeing Christensen once again in the upcoming Ahsoka Disney+ series.
While Disney was willing to announce that Hayden Christensen would be appearing in the Ahsoka series, they have been characteristically silent about what his role will entail. Ahsoka takes place after Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, so Darth Vader is already dead at this point. Of course, Anakin appears as a Force ghost at the end of that film, so it’s very possible that we could see Christensen show up to offer his former Padawan guidance.
Then again, we could also see Hayden Christensen show up in flashback scenes for Ahsoka. While we got to see plenty of Anakin and Ahsoka’s adventures in the animated Star Wars series, we’ve never seen them in live action together. This could be an opportunity to show the two during their prime played by their live-action actors.
Regardless of how they choose to bring Hayden Christensen back to Ahsoka, fans are excited about the prospect. The series is set to be released sometime in 2023 and will star Rosario Dawson as the titular character alongside a cast that also includes Natasha Liu Bordizzo as Sabine Wren, Eman Esfandi as Ezra Bridger, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ray Stevenson, and Ivanna Sakhno. The series will presumably be following Ahsoka as she tracks down the Jedi Ezra Bridger, who disappeared with Grand Admiral Thrawn at the end of Star Wars Rebels.
