In a wide-ranging interview with Empire, Hayden Christensen has revealed his doubts that he’d win the role of Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars prequel trilogy.
He also talked of its backlash. Christensen, now 42, was just 19-years-old when he debuted as the future Darth Vader in 2002’s Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones.
His audition had come a year earlier. “I was 18, and I got a call from my agent saying that they were casting for Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars and I thought, ‘Wow, how cool.’ But it just seemed too big,” Christensen said. “And I remember asking my agent, ‘Is there maybe another role that they’re also casting right now that you can put me up for?
Because Anakin sort of seems unattainable.’ And there was not. So I threw my name in the hat like everyone else,” he said. It must have been a huge hat, as reportedly 1,500 actors were seen for the role, including Leonardo DeCaprio. “I had heard that they’d met with Leonardo and a bunch of other actors.
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