Line #19 Creator/HaydenChristensen


1	[[quoteright:289:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hayden_christensen.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:289:Will you all stop asking me how I feel about sand?]]
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4	->''"I love acting because it's a bit of an escape. It gives you the ability to reinvent yourself. They say that acting is the shy man's revenge."''
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6	[[Film/RevengeOfTheSith This is where the]] [[JustForFun/DescribeTopicHere description]] [[MemeticMutation begins!]]
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8	Hayden Christensen (born April 19, 1981 in Vancouver, British Columbia) is a American-Canadian actor.
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10	He began his career on Canadian television at the age of 13, then went into US television in the late 1990s. The [[StarMakingRole role that made his fame]] is undeniably [[FallenHero Anakin Skywalker]], the troubled young Jedi prodigy who would fall to TheDarkSide and become Darth Vader, in the ''Franchise/StarWars'' {{prequel}} trilogy.
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12	He would eventually grow [[CelebrityIsOverrated dissatisfied with the Hollywood lifestyle]] and [[{{CallToAgriculture}} purchase a farm]] in Ontario, which he spends his time tending to. He still takes roles here and there, but his A-List days seemed to be well behind him...until 2021, when it was revealed that he would be returning to the ''Star Wars'' franchise, once again wearing the black armor and cape of the franchise's marquee villain, Darth Vader, in the interquel series ''Obi-Wan Kenobi''. The extremely favorable reaction and massive outpouring of support thst this garnered from the fanbase has also led to Christensen saying he'd be open to a series focusing on Vader himself.
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14	He was involved with actress Creator/RachelBilson from 2007 to 2017, and they have a daughter together. They first met [[RomanceOnTheSet while filming]] ''Film/{{Jumper}}''.
15	----
16	!!Troper. [[Memes/RevengeOfTheSith You're shorter than I expected]]:
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18	* ''Film/InTheMouthOfMadness'' (1995) as Paper Boy
19	* ''Series/Goosebumps1995'' (1997) as Zane (episode: "Night of the Living Dummy III")
20	* ''Film/TheHairyBird'' (1998) as Tinka's date
21	* ''Series/AreYouAfraidOfTheDark'' (1999) as Kirk (episode: "The Tale of Bigfoot Ridge")
22	* ''Series/TheFamousJettJackson'' (1999) as Steven (episode: "Popularity")
23	* ''Film/TheVirginSuicides'' (1999) as Jake Hill Conley
24	* ''Series/HigherGround'' (2000) as Scott Barringer
25	* ''Life As A House'' (2001) as Sam Monroe
26	* ''Franchise/StarWars'' as [[Characters/StarWarsAnakinSkywalker Anakin Skywalker]] / [[Characters/StarWarsDarthVaderAndServants Darth Vader]]:
27	** ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'' (2002)
28	** ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi: Special Edition'' (2004) [[note]]Cameo as the Force ghost of Anakin in the 2004 DVD [[GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion re-release]]. This was done by superimposing footage of his face from the prequel trilogy onto Sebastian Shaw's body.[[/note]]
29	** ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' (2005) [[note]]Puts the Darth Vader suit on at the end.[[/note]]
30	** ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker'' (2019) [[note]]Voice cameo as Anakin.[[/note]]
31	** ''[[WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars The Clone Wars]]'' (2020) (episode: "Shattered") [[note]]Archive audio from ''Revenge of The Sith''.[[/note]]
32	** ''Series/ObiWanKenobi'' (2022)
33	** ''Series/{{Ahsoka}}'' (2023)
34	* ''Film/ShatteredGlass'' (2003) as Stephen Glass
35	* ''Film/FactoryGirl'' (2006) as Billy Quinn
36	* ''Film/{{Awake\|2007}}'' (2007) as Clayton "Clay" Beresford, Jr.
37	* ''Film/{{Jumper}}'' (2008) as David Rice
38	* ''New York, I Love You'' (2009) as Ben
39	* ''Film/{{Takers}}'' (2010) as AJ
40	* ''Film/VanishingOn7thStreet'' (2010) as Luke
41	* ''American Heist'' (2014) as James Kelly
42	* ''Film/{{Outcast}}'' as Sir Jacob
43	* ''Little Italy'' (2018) as Leo
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45	!! "I will be the most powerful troper ever!"
46	* DyeingForYourArt:
47	** In his role as the rebellious teenage son in ''Film/LifeAsAHouse'', he dyed his hair black or very dark brown to go with the characters goth appearance.
48	** As Anakin Skywalker he trained for months in lightsaber choreography for each film so that he could do the majority of it on screen, and his proficiency has led to many seeing him as the best in the already well-received sword combat. He also gained a lot of weight under a strict diet and workout program to portray the character's older, more battle worn version in ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith''.
49	* FakeAmerican: He has played several American characters, most notably the infamous journalist Stephen Glass, but he is actually Canadian.
50	* HollywoodHypeMachine: Being cast as Anakin Skywalker immediately placed him in the spotlight. He's generally done well with brooding, angry psychological roles but was perhaps miscast in subsequent heroic lead roles, and as such his career never really pushed past the notoriety of Star Wars.
51	* IAmNotSpock: Averted. He will always be known as Anakin Skywalker and he seems pretty content about it.
52	* MasterSwordsman: One thing that no one can argue against is that Hayden trained his ass off in sword choreography to make Anakin's skills with a lightsaber look legit. His future appearances in ''Obi-Wan Kenobi'' and ''Ahsoka'' show that despite being over a dozen years later, Hayden's still got it.
53	* OlderThanTheyLook: He looks about a decade younger than he really is, to the point that he could come back for scenes as pre-Vader Anakin in ''Series/ObiWanKenobi'' and ''Series/{{Ahsoka}}'' nearly 20 years after ''Revenge of the Sith'' with no issue.
54	* PlayingAgainstType: Most of his characters have been shy, soft spoken or angsty young men in one way or another, making the exceptions (such as his Bob Dylan inspired Musician character in '' FactoryGirl'' an example of this.
55	* PromotedFanboy: He was a fan of the original ''Star Wars'' (and of Darth Vader in particular) before he got the part of Anakin. Apparently, in his excitement, he ruined many takes by actually making lightsaber sounds during fight scenes.
56	* RoleReprise: 14 years after ''Revenge of the Sith'', he got a series of job offers from Lucasfilm to play Anakin again, starting with a voice-over cameo at the end of ''The Rise of Skywalker'', followed by an in-person reprisal of Darth Vader in ''Obi-Wan Kenobi'', and a Force Spirit and hologram in ''Ahsoka''.
57	* ShownTheirWork:
58	** He is said to have carefully studied the original ''Star Wars'' trilogy in an attempt to mimic Darth Vader's speech patterns and cadence, as well as movements and body posture, which he then tried to incorporate to his own portrayal of Anakin Skywalker. The result is a performance that can superficially appear wooden at first, as well as a rather monotonous speech, but both make a lot more sense when compared to Vader's mannerisms and speech from the original trilogy. Although some fans disliked Hayden's performance, many others noticed this and credit the actor for his keen attention to detail.
59	** He also studied as much as he could the personality, mannerisms and speech patterns of Stephen Glass for the film ''Shattered Glass'' resulting in a generally acclaimed performance.
60	** When asked to reprise his role as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader for ''Series/ObiWanKenobi'', he watched Episodes II and III, as well as ''The Clone Wars'' and other shows involving his character post Episode III to both refresh his memory and get a better understanding of his character's personality and experiences throughout the years. As a result, his physical performance is nigh-indistinguishable from that of Creator/DavidProwse back in the day.
61	* StarMakingRole: Anakin Skywalker of course. Interestingly, his most acclaimed role may have been Stephen Glass in the much more discrete ''Film/ShatteredGlass''.

Context Creator / HaydenChristensen