Skip to playerSkip to main contentSkip to footer
  • yesterday
From a teenage rebel to the Dark Lord of the Sith, The Hollywood Reporter is breaking down the 7 Roles We Love from Hayden Christensen.

Category

People
Transcript
00:00From a teenage rebel to a young Jedi deemed the Chosen One.
00:03This is where the fun begins.
00:05Who eventually became one of the most iconic villains in cinema.
00:09No!
00:12Hayden Christensen has definitely brought some memorable characters to life on screen,
00:16with his career growing with a generation at the turn of the millennium.
00:19Let's take a look at seven roles we love from Hayden Christensen.
00:24One of the actor's early roles was in 1999's The Virgin Suicides.
00:28Christensen played Jake, one of the teenage boys who took the Lisbon sisters
00:32to the ill-fated school dance in the film directed by Sofia Coppola.
00:422001's Life is a House saw the actor play teenage rebel Sam Monroe,
00:46who helps his terminally ill father build a house.
00:49He received both Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations for his performance in the film.
00:53You know, nobody would blame me if I left.
00:56I'd blame you.
00:57I want you here.
00:59The 2002 film Star Wars Episode II, Attack of the Clones,
01:02first introduced us to Christensen's most famed role,
01:06Anakin Skywalker, a.k.a. Darth Vader.
01:09When Christensen nabbed the coveted role of the heroic yet tragic young man
01:12who would become the infamous Sith Lord,
01:15he was instantly shot to new levels of fame,
01:17leading one of the biggest film franchises of all time.
01:20I'd be brave of you, boy.
01:21But I would have thought you had learned your lesson.
01:25I am a slow learner.
01:27Anakin!
01:31Of course, the actor continued Anakin's story in 2005's Star Wars Episode III, Revenge of the Sith,
01:37which revealed how Darth Vader came to be.
01:39The film grossed $850 million worldwide.
01:42You turned her against me!
01:44While Christensen and the Star Wars prequels were met with some criticism at the time,
01:49more recently there's been a resurgence of fan support and praise for him and the films.
01:54I hate you!
01:56Two decades later, Christensen reprised the role in both the Obi-Wan and Ahsoka Disney Plus series,
02:02for which he has received much acclaim.
02:052003's Shattered Glass starred Christensen as Stephen Glass.
02:09The film, based on a true story, sees the actor play a young journalist for The New Republic,
02:13who fell from grace after it was uncovered that he had fabricated articles in the late 90s.
02:18I'm afraid of what I'm going to do.
02:21You know, I can't get there by myself.
02:26I'm not going anywhere with you.
02:29In 2007's Awake, the actor took on the role of Clay,
02:33a young Wall Street tycoon who was trying to fill his late father's shoes in the business world,
02:38while also waiting for a suitable donor for a heart transplant.
02:41The Hollywood Reporter's review at the time said, quote,
02:43Christensen delivers a low-key performance that is ultimately quite appealing.
02:48Go ahead and count back from ten for me, will ya?
02:51Ten, nine, eight, seven.
02:55The 2008 science fiction thriller Jumper starred the actor as David Rice,
03:00a young man who discovers he has a gift for teleportation.
03:02Is that what you think's going to happen?
03:04You so much as look at her wrong, right?
03:05Well, what are you going to do? Are you going to jump me where?
03:10Did you think you were the only one?
03:12And 2010's Takers saw Christensen play A.J.,
03:17a member of a group of high-living bank robbers who specialize in spectacular robberies.
03:22THR's review of the film praised its amazing stunt work and breathless pace.
03:27Get on the ground! Get on the ground!
03:30Get on the ground now!
03:31Take a seat next to your friends!
03:32For all the latest movie and TV news, go to THR.com.

Recommended