One of the most exciting announcements from Star Wars Celebration is that Hayden Christensen will reprise his role as Anakin Skywalker in Season 2 of Ahsoka. Following this reveal, we had the opportunity to discuss with Christensen his return to the character after nearly 20 years, his appreciation for the darker aspects of Star Wars, and his favorite Anakin meme.
We started our conversation by asking Christensen about other Anakin stories he'd like to explore on screen. He expressed a strong interest in delving deeper into the Clone Wars era, a period mostly covered in animation where Matt Lanter voiced Anakin. "I know my friend Ewan would be game for that as well," Christensen mentioned. "It's a cool look. It's a cool sort of period in Star Wars and I think there are great stories that we could tell there. So who knows, maybe one day."
While the idea of revisiting the Clone Wars era would require some "aging magic," Christensen remains enthusiastic about continuing to explore Anakin's journey, including further delving into the Darth Vader timeline. "I love this character," he affirmed. "I would love the chance to continue to explore Anakin's story some more and hopefully do the Darth Vader timeline a little bit more too. I think there are more stories there to be told."
Our discussion then shifted to Revenge of the Sith, which is approaching its 20th anniversary on May 19, 2025. This film is known for its darker themes, and Christensen appreciates when Star Wars tackles challenging subjects. "George Lucas made some very bold choices and I love that he did that," Christensen said. "However, he did it in a way that we could still digest everything. For example, Anakin is killing younglings, but we don't actually see it. But yeah, I like it when Star Wars goes dark. That works for me."
Reflecting on his return to the role after almost two decades, Christensen noted the difference in his perspective. "Of course it feels different. I'm different," he explained. "I've had 20 years of life that I didn't have before, and that just sort of changes your perspective on things. But in a lot of ways, I feel even more connected to Anakin now than I ever have because I've had more time to think about him and sort of try to understand him."
"It's a very unique thing coming back to a role after all of these years and an interesting sort of exercise in the craft of acting, having to sort of account for that passage of time. But I feel very fortunate that I have the opportunity to do it."
To wrap up our conversation, we touched on the ongoing debate about the best order to watch the Star Wars films. Christensen remains open-minded about it. "Not really," he said. "I don't know that there is a right way or a wrong way, and I think there's merit to both. I think George Lucas would like you to start with episode one and experience the story in a linear fashion, but there's definitely something to be said for starting with episode four. I've thought about it myself as I have yet to show my daughter the films... I mean she is going to see her dad do some sort of gnarly stuff."
Finally, we asked Christensen about his thoughts on the numerous Anakin memes and which one he enjoys the most. While he's familiar with the iconic sand meme and the one featuring him and Padmé in the field, his current favorite is a meme of Emperor Palpatine pleading with Anakin not to let Mace Windu kill him, to which Anakin replies, "He's just reflecting your lightning back at you... just stop shooting lightning!"
Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker in Ahsoka. Image Credit: Lucasfilm
