Meet another girl/teen in our club who likes the same movie favorites as you do. To write her, click on the link to join the penpal club!

	any age 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
	A Star Wars Movie Epics like Titanic Something Scary Anything Disney Anything Funny Romance Action Films Comedies Historicals Animal flicks

• Eliza Dushku
• Tobey Maguire
• Kirsten Dunst: Spiderman
• The Rock
• Rachel True
• Zooey Deschanel
• Kelly Hu
• E.T. Premiere
• Ice Age Actors
• Samantha Mumba
• Frankie Muniz
• Amanda Bynes
• Britney Spears
• Mandy Moore
• Schuyler Fisk
• Shane West
• Sisqo
• Beauty&Beast Actors
• Jim Carrey
• Harry Potter Actors
• Cast of Ocean's 11
• The voices of Monsters Inc.
• Drew Barrymore
• Joey Fatone
• Lance Bass/Emanuelle Chriqui
• Max Keeble and Friends
• Jennifer Aniston
• Leelee Sobieski
• Reese Witherspoon
• Ming-Na
• Haley Joel Osment
• Sean Hayes(Mr. Tinkles)
• Kirsten Dunst
• Eddie Murphy
• Kerry Washington Julianne Moore
• The Ladies of Atlantis
• Cameron Diaz
• Shannyn Sossamon
• Heath Ledger
• Backstreet Boys
• Leonardo DiCaprio
• Celine Dion
• Hanson
• Enrique Iglesias
• Sarah McLachla and Lilith Fair
• 'N'Sync
• Will Smith
  • Wild Wild West
  • Bagger Vance
• Spice Girls
• Britney Spears
• Justin Timberlake
• Oprah Winfrey
• Youngstown

Updated 5/16/02

We're Hangin' With....Anakin Skywalker

HAYDEN CHRISTENSEN

by Lynn b.

His status as a romantic lead and hot Jedi warrior will be established as he plays the pre-Vader Anakin in Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones but 20-year-old Hayden Christensen seems to keep it all in perspective. Born in Vancouver but raised in Toronto, Canada, Hayden got the attention of George Lucas with his role in the t.v. series "Higher Ground". He gained critical acclaim when he tackled an emotional and difficult role as Kevin Kline's embittered son in the drama Life As a House.

Hayden has checked out Oxford and Cambridge and may pick Cambridge for his college education. For now, he still lives in Vancouver where he can relax with family and friends. At idyllic Skywalker Ranch in Marin County, California recently, the actor filled in the blanks and set the record straight on his relationship with Lucas, co-star Natalie Portman and his feelings about playing one of the great film villains of all time.

We wondered how the young actor learned that the coveted role was his. "I was in Vancouver and just finishing (his run on the TV series) "Higher Ground". I was in bed and my roommate walked into my room and tossed the phone on my bed. I was half asleep. I got on the phone and was told the role was mine. I immediately woke up and was just overwhelmed with joy. I went out with my friends to see a film that day. I think it was Gladiator. I was just completely in shock and didn't know what to do with myself."

Hayden seems ready to handle all the sudden fame and heartthrob status that this film will generate. "That's something that I never really associated myself with prior to all this happening and it's something I sort of have a hard time getting my head around now. It's not something I'm too aware of, to be honest. I get my joy from doing the work. That's where my fulfillment comes from. All of the peripheral attention you get from being in a film like
this is very much secondary. That kind of stuff is flattering". What about rumors that are unkind? "It's hilarious. When people don't really have accurate information to draw from or any factual data they just infer what they would like to be real. It's humorous. My theory is that as long as it's not true I'm fine with it".

Hayden's relationship with director Lucas developed right away. "At first, I was (intimidated) because he has such a huge following. The Star Wars films are massive. They were huge in my childhood and in my brother's childhood. So it was a little daunting at first to create that actor-director relationship. But George makes it very easy once you get to know him. He's a very kind man, and he was very aware that our relationship was going to be important to my portrayal of Anakin. So he did everything he needed to in order to make me feel comfortable".

The actor was up against Ryan Phillipe, Leo DeCaprio and other heavyweight heartthrobs for the part. "Throughout the whole auditioning process I kind of felt like the part was going to go to one of them. I really, really never felt like there was a tangible possibility that it was going to go my way. In retrospect I realize why maybe (George) chose me over better-known actors. If you have an actor with a more public persona playing a part like this it's harder for the audience to really believe him in that role".

As a big fan of the first trilogy, Hayden was in awe on the Tunisian sets left standing since 1977. "I'd get that 'pinch myself, this can't be real' feeling probably once a day. When we were filming in Tunisia and I had my bike parked next to me, there was no dialogue involved, but I was asking directions from a Jawa. There was the everlasting landscape. The sun was setting. That, to me, always represented what the previous trilogy was about. One day, at the end of the day, last shot of the day, I thought, `This is surreal.'"

He admits to marathon sessions of watching the early Star Wars films. "I watched the original trilogy about 10 times over before we started filming and I watched Episode I every weekend during the filming process. I felt I had a vested interest in making sure my character was an extension of Jake Lloyd's performance". We reminded him that Jake got some pretty bad press on his acting. "Jake is a kid. He was eight years old at the time. To actually critique his performance is cruel. You wouldn't do it if he were performing in a school play. Just because he's doing it on a different platform, I think it's kind of wrong (to criticize him)". Hayden wanted a smooth transition for his character. "I thought that elements of Jake's performance were very key to what Anakin's descent was going to entail. That immaturity was hopefully a part of my performance, in terms of how he reacts to certain stimuli in the film and his mindset of feeling that guidance isn't so much necessary at this point in his life."

What about those romance rumors that always follow hot young couples in high profile films? Did Hayden actually blow a few kissing scenes in order to get re-takes? "No, not at all. It happened a couple of times, but it wasn't on purpose". Playing a character who is so conflicted was a challenge. "Probably the romantic scenes were more of a challenge. The preparation for the lightsaber scenes was more extensive, just because I wasn't a master swordsman before we started all this. So learning the fights took some time. But the trail of the romantic aspect of my character was tricky because he's very conflicted. There's a duality to his personality that's hard to maintain. He is obviously very passionate about someone, but there still has to be some sort of menacing evil lurking behind it."

He admits that he and co-star Natalie Portman worked at their relationship off camera in order to achieve some chemistry. "It was something we were conscious was necessary for the relationship to work. So it was something we did work at in terms of trying to become very comfortable with each other. That was a process of just hanging out for the most part and figuring out each other's boundaries. Natalie is a very committed actress and a very pretty girl as well. (smiling) Having to look at her with such adoring eyes wasn't the most difficult to do".

The actor knows that this high profile role can enable huge changes and choices in his life. "Career-wise it will hopefully enable me to play roles I'm passionate about and to tell stories I feel a need to tell. One of the joys of just being an actor is that in your time away from it you can go do whatever you want. I want to go back to school. I'd want to study English, literature. I just miss that learning environment. The acting is all-consuming and after playing a few characters on top of each other you almost start to lose your sense of self,because you become so lost in these characters' sensibilities. So I'm kind of looking forward to spending some time working on being myself instead of somebody else."

Hayden plans on shooting a smaller film this summer with his brother. He'll play a journalist. But, what about slipping into Vader's helmet for Episode III? "I was always hoping that I'd get to wear the dark helm. That's the only thing I'll ever ask George about is getting to wear the Darth Vader outfit. He likes to give me a wink-wink, nudge-nudge. I have actually put it on, but just for the hell of it. The last time I was here (at the ranch) I was checking out the archives and I saw the Darth Vader helmet. I got a picture of myself in this gray tracksuit with this enormous Darth Vader helmet. It looked really funny". (As for working in the next episode) "I'm looking forward to it. I can only extrapolate from what's told in the previous trilogy about my character. But I have to murder the entire Jedi race". Pretty heavy, Hayden. Watch out for the dark side!