Birth Name : Hayden Christensen
Birth Date : April 19, 1981
Birth Place : Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Spouse : -
Claim to Fame : As Anakin Skywalker in "Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones" (2002)
When being asked about his favorite movie, the 'Star Wars' trilogy, Hayden Christensen answered enthusiastically, "A long time ago, in a country not so far away, I was eight years old, doing my best Darth Vader imitation." It is true that as a child who grew up loving the epic saga, this young Canadian actor was keen on impersonating its prominent character. Little he knew that years later he would score the only role he never dare to dream about.
Born on April 19, 1981, this strapping young man is the third of four children to Alie and David Christensen, both worked in communication business owning 'Christensen Communications'. Though born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, he was brought up and spent most of his formative years in Markham, Ontario. After graduating from Baythorn Public School in 1995, he subsequently attended Unionville High School where he established himself as an accomplished tennis and hockey player. Whereas at the same time, he joined the Art York program, a four year program offered by Unionville High specializing in dance, drama, music and visual arts, concentrating in drama.
Despite his involvement in this program, as any other Canadian teenagers, Christensen was more interested in sports than acting. So to say, his participation in entertainment industry was purely a mere coincidence. Once, he revealed the time when his older sister, Hejsa, a former trampoline champion, was hunting for an agent, "There was no one to baby-sit me and I went along for the ride and they asked me if I wanted to do some commercials and I said sure." Since then, Christensen landed his first acting role on the Canadian television series "Family Passions" as Skip McDeere in 1993. The following years, 1994 to 1999, presented the dirty-blond actor with little room to improve, acquiring only minor roles in several movies, as in "In the Mouth of Madness", the 1995 horror movie directed by John Carpenter and in "The Virgin Suicide" (1999), a drama-mystery movie about the suicides of the five Lisbon sisters in Detroit's upper middle class suburb during the 1970's; while also making small appearances in some television shows.
The year 2000 proved to be this heartthrob's breakthrough point. It was on this year that he got his two most outstanding roles, one of which propelled him to international fame. In early 2000, he starred as Scott Barringer, a 16-year-old athlete abused by
Hayden Christensen made headlines in the spring of 2000, when director George Lucas announced that the 19-year-old actor would play the much-coveted role of Anakin Skywalker in Episode II and Episode III of the venerable Star Wars franchise. Born in Vancouver but raised in Toronto, Canada, Christensen became involved with Canadian television productions at a young age and carried his skills over to American TV movies and series in the late '90s. Though he would appear briefly in 1999's The Virgin Suicides for director Sofia Coppola -- a family friend of Lucas' -- it was Christensen's work in the Fox Family Channel's drama series Higher Ground which convinced Lucas to give the actor a reading. Adamant in his desire to find new talent for the role, Lucas passed over such potential adolescent Anakins as Ryan Phillippe, Jonathon Jackson, and even Leonardo DiCaprio in favor of Christensen. It remains to be seen whether the young actor will survive the typecasting that a similarly unknown Mark Hamill suffered some two and a half decades prior, in Episode IV.
Before Episode II made it to the screen, Christensen won accolades -- including a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor -- playing a troubled goth teen in the family melodrama Life as a House. The stage thus set for his blockbuster debut, Christensen would be omnipresent on magazine covers and talk shows in the months leading up to Attack of the Clones' release. The film grossed more than 300 million dollars stateside, but sharp opinions on the movie's script did little to help Christensen's career. Even before the final Star Wars prequel Revenge of the Sith was released in 2005, Christensen began moving on as an actor, taking on more meaty character roles, like real life journalist Stephen Glass in the thriller Shattered Glass, and a fictional stand-in for Bob Dyaln in 2006's Factory Girl. He would als make a name for himself in thrillers like Jumper, Vanishing Point, and Takers. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi
Canadian actor Hayden Christensen played Padawan Anakin Skywalker in episodes two and three of the Star Wars movie series by George Lucas. (The character of Skywalker goes on to become the villain Darth Vader, the Dark Lord of Sith and apprentice to the evil Emperor Palpatine). Christensen grew up in Toronto, Ontario and started acting in television commercials when he was seven, moving on to soap operas by the age of 13. He appeared in the feature films The Virgin Suicides (1999, with Kirsten Dunst) and Life as a House (2001), and in the FOX TV series Higher Ground (2000) before Lucas picked him to be in the re-booted Star Wars franchise. Although Christensen received mixed reviews for Attack of the Clones (2002) and Revenge of the Sith (2005), the movies made him a household nam
He gained fame as Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader in Star Wars Episodes II and III. His portrayal of Sam in Life as a House earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor in 2001.
He has an older brother named Tove and an older sister named Hejsa. His younger sister is Kaylen. He began dating co-star Rachel Bilson in 2007 after meeting her on the set of Jumper. He and Bilson had a daughter named Briar Rose on October 29, 2014.
his step-mom, in the short lived Canadian television drama series, "Higher Ground," for which he was well-praised by the entertainment critics. Thanks to his conspicuous performance in the TV project that George Lucas, the reputable director of the Star Wars franchise, then chose the then-rather-unknown actor to join the cast of "Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones" (2002), and even more trusted him to depict the most wanted role of Anakin Skywalker, the pivotal character in the original and prequel Star Wars trilogies, creating great buzz in the movie industry and rocketed his name to fame. In between times, Christensen portrayed another well-received character in "Life as a House" (2001), starring alongside his idol Kevin Kline. Playing Sam Monroe, a troubled and misunderstood teenager who helped his sick father to rebuild a house, scored him a 2001 National Board of Review Award for Breakthrough Performance of the Year as well put him in various nominations, naming some were the 2002 Screen Actors Guild Award-Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role and the 2002 Golden Globe Award-Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture. With the release of "Star Wars Episode II" in the year of 2002, this down-to-earth leading man received another worthy praises as well as harsh criticism, mainly for being too soft and whinny on several occasions leading people to think that he just didn't fit to the role of Anakin Skywalker. He was being nominated for many notable awards though, including the 2003 Saturn Award-Best Performance by a Younger Actor, yet walked away with the 2003 Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actor.
Still, getting a Razzie Award did not stop Christensen on landing and successfully depicting illustrious characters. In 2003, he scored another leading character in the based-on-true-story drama movie "Shattered Glass", portraying Stephen Glass, a journalist for 'The New Republic', an opinion-based political magazine, who was caught of making up half of his articles. Once again, he gathered good reviews and award nominations. Following that, he went back to shoot "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith," the last movie of the Star Wars saga that became the highest grossing movie of 2005 in United States, earning over 850 million US dollars world wide. Later when asked about his role in "Star Wars Episode III," he excitedly said, "I was looking forward tothis film because this was the side of Anakin's character that i was really looking forward to playing...that sort of transitional phase of his life where he goes to the dark side." Although the success of the latest episode of Star Wars brought him more awards and nominations, it still could not reprieve Christensen of acquiring his second Worst Supporting Actor Award from the 2006 Razzie Awards considering that many Star Wars fanatics struggled to reason why the skinny actor should be believed as the feared Darth Vader who supposedly is overpowering.
In return for being rocketed instantly to superstardom, Hayden would have to satisfy millions of fans worldwide by believably portraying the youthful Jedi apprentice Anakin Skywalker's descent into the Dark Side and his transformation into Darth Vader, one of contemporary pop culture's mythic villains. The soft-spoken actor didn't shrink from the task, however, and was determined to prove he was a lot more than just a pretty face.
So just how did he pull the role off so successfully? Apparently, by not thinking about it. "I was pretty aware of the responsibility of playing the role when I started to break down my part," says the actor. "But it just really wasn't conducive to doing my best work. I try not to project my thoughts there just focus on how I was going to play the character and not so much the repercussions if it was done wrong because that just brings you down."
Born to David and Alie Christensen in Vancouver, Canada, on April 19, 1981, Hayden was raised in the nation's largest city, Toronto, where he continues to live today. He made his first foray into acting aged 13, with a supporting role in the German-Canadian TV-series Macht Der Leidenschaft/Family Passions, and from there on worked steadily in supporting roles on Canadian TV productions and occasional film appearances Stateside.
But 2000 would be Hayden's banner year. He scooped the part of a local drug-abusing delinquent who was sexually molested by his stepmother in the US TV series Higher Ground. It was a role which gave Hayden the chance to show off his acting talents and earned him a loyal fan base.
Next came the US made-for-TV film Trapped In A Purple Haze in which Hayden gave a gripping portrayal of the effects of heroin addiction. Within a month of the movie airing, Hayden had nabbed the Star Wars part, reportedly due to good on-screen chemistry with predetermined co-star Natalie Portman. His remarkable ability to completely change his look from angelic to malevolent in the flash of an eye might have helped a little too.
Filming had no sooner wrapped on Attack Of The Clones than Hayden further proved his acting chops, scooping a Golden Globe in 2001 for his role as Kevin Kline's drug-abusing son in Life As A House.
But although it is for his Star Wars part that Hayden is currently best known, Hayden isn't worried about being typecast with the sci-fi role. "There's a risk in playing any character if it's not done right," Hayden says. "And of course there's obviously a larger risk in playing a character presented in such a major platform. But if you're not willing to take those risks then what's the point of acting?"
Hayden Christensen - Did U Know?
Hayden Christensen played competitive tennis while growing up.
Hayden Christensen's favorite Star Wars character is Yoda.
Hayden Christensen owns a production company with his older brother Tove called Forest Park Pictures.
Hayden Christensen is allergic to bees.
Hayden's favorite TV show is The Simpsons.
Hayden Christensen was a model for the Louis Vuitton Fall '04/Winter '05 campaign.
Hayden Christensen Says...
"When I phoned my mom when I found out, she was screaming at the top of her lungs. My entire house was just chaotic."
"All I want is all what my mother wanted for me when she raised me - to be happy. For that, I don't need to be in a relationship. I don't need to have a certain level of respect. I just want to care very much about what I do and be kind to everyone in the process. It's important that I can feel that. That's happiness."
Having done performing his dream role, Christensen continued to film drama-thriller movie "Awake" (2007) and drama movie "Factory Girl" (2006) where he reportedly had a momentary fling with co-star Sienna Miller. Afterwards, he went on playing Lorenzo de Lambreti in "Virgin Territory" (2008). Following that romantic comedy movie, Christensen's next project is to play the part of David Rice, a young man who could teleport himself anywhere, in a science fiction motion picture "Jumper", scheduled to be released on February 14, 2008. Kept adding more film projects into his resume, he also signed on to star in the drama "The Madison Kid" (2009) and war-drama "Beast of Bataan" (2008).
As many other actors and actresses in Hollywood, Christensen prefers to keep his personal life personal. Perhaps that could be the cause he was rumored to be gay, despite the fact that he was most likely to be associated with many of his female co-stars, as Natalie Portman and Rachel Bilson.
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