Hayden Christensen: Although his future will forever be tied with the fearsome “Darth Vader”, the young Canadian actor is one of the most attractive people in the “star system”. Intelligent, with a touch of sensibility and always up for super-productions as well as more artistic opportunities. “Takers”, alongside Matt Dillon, is next for the star, who does not lose sleep over fame.
Hayden Christensen was only eight years old when, even under his father’s opposition, took advantage of his first professional opportunity: starring in a Pringles commercial in his native Canada . The typical premeditated story of the infant Machiavellian? The furthest thing from the truth. He met his first manager because on the day in which his oldest sister (a former trampoline jumper) was looking for an agent to take her first steps as an actress, there was no one to babysit the young Hayden. The manager asked if the young boy had an agent and Christensen is proof, since then, that “once you pop, you can’t stop”. It’s difficult that the imagination of a “Star Wars” fan can’t establish the parallel between this casual encounter and the scene from “The Phantom Menace” in which ‘Qui-Gon Jinn’ (Liam Neeson) realizes that it was the Force and not just some random accident which took his ship to the remote planet of Tatooine where he found a 9 year old boy named ‘Anakin Skywalker’…
But before George Lucas choose him from 400 aspiring actors (including Leonardo DiCaprio), Hayden was already an emerging star. He was nominated for a Golden Globe for “Life as a House” (2001); he had shared his talent in “The Virgin Suicides” (1999), the debut from indie muse Sofia Coppola; and had worked with “teen” terror genius John Carpenter in the film “In the Mouth of Madness” (1995). When he learned that he was required for the first audition of “Star Wars”, the still adolescent Hayden was a real professional; he did not attend the audition because he did not want to miss filming of “Higher Ground” (2000), which was filming in Vancouver . He continued with the auditioning process thanks to the insistence of his agent, until one day George Lucas said he wanted to see him at Skywalker ranch. Hayden was chosen to interpret the myth before he became a myth, basically ‘Anakin’ before his transformation into ‘Darth Vader’, one of the most iconic characters, which caused pandemonium amongst fans throughout the world in “Attack of the Clones” (2002) and “Revenge of the Sith” (2005)
Everyone was caught up with ‘Haydenmania’, everyone but Hayden. Even with the significance of the new “Star Wars” trilogy, the actor has always shined amongst all of the stars of his age, because of his independence and modesty. After the saga, he starred in other high budget films – like “ Virgin Territory ” (2007) or “Jumper” (2008) – and smaller budget films such as “Awake” (2007) or the retrospective “Factory Girl” (2006) and “Shattered Glass” (2003), for which he won the award for best male actor at the Palms Film Festival. Though the films appear very different, the Canadian actor assures: “All of my characters have something in common. I like the roles that having an interesting growth; that experience changes; that find themselves affected by the elements in the story. I’ve always felt that conflict is essential to drama”.
Christensen, who we recently saw attending the Winter Olympics in Vancouver as a regular spectator, has not given into the Hollywood lifestyle. Even though “People” magazine have included him in their most beautiful people lists. He spends the majority of the year in Canada, he loves jazz, plays piano, studies architecture as a plan B and takes great sport risks, such as Eco-Challenge” Fiji Island, in which he formed a team with his brother and sister: 500 kilometers of hiking, swimming, mountain biking… In his adolescence he competed in tennis and hockey.
In an interview he confessed: “Everything that I want, is what my mother wanted for me when she raised me: to be happy. For that, you don’t need to have a relationship. It’s not necessary to have reached a certain level of respect. I just want to continue caring about what I do and be nice to everyone in the process. It’s important to feel that. That is happiness”.
While he enjoys his relationship with Rachel Bilson, one of the stars of “The O.C.” and a costar in one of his most recent movies, “New York, I Love You” (2009), he returns to screens this summer is “Takers”, a thriller directed by John Luessenhop and with a very attractive ensemble cast (Paul Walker, Chris Brown, Matt Dillon and Hayden). May the force be with him.
Scans can be viewed in the gallery
Thank you to Rosie for translating the article.
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Tags: Magazine 2010, Nox