Star Wars’ Hayden Christensen Reflects on Working with George Lucas on the Prequels
Star Wars actor, Hayden Christensen, calls franchise creator George Lucas a “visionary” and reveals why Anakin Skywalker has Sith eyes.
Hayden Christensen believes he had a good working relationship with George Lucas while making the Star Wars prequel trilogy together.
“George is a visionary and always knew exactly what he wanted, but when I had an idea he would always hear me out and consider it,” Christensen told Empire in an interview celebrating the prequel era’s 25th anniversary. Even if Lucas didn’t use Christensen’s suggestions, the actor respected his willingness to let Christensen experiment a bit, stating, “I remember on several occasions explaining what I wanted to try and George would say, “Well I know when I get to the editing room and I’ve got your version and my version, I’m always going to use my version, but sure, let’s give it a try.” And he was right, he always did use his version!”
Occasionally, however, some of Christensen’s suggestions to Lucas were implemented in the films. One such example was the inclusion of Anakin Skywalker’s yellow Sith eyes in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, which Christensen felt would demonstrate “an observable shift in character” once he succumbed to the dark side. “I loved the visual of Sith eyes and thought it could make sense: Darth Maul had them and Sidious has them. George responded by saying that Count Dooku didn’t, and I thought that was the end of that,” the actor explained. But days later, he revealed that Lucas “came back to me and said he thought about it some more and now liked the idea of Sith eyes – but not for that scene. I think that was because it would have misinformed things. Anakin’s fall to the dark side isn’t just about good and evil and ideological views; it’s also about timing and circumstance.”
Though Anakin’s arc wasn’t well-received when the prequels came out, Lucas would continue his journey through the acclaimed 2008 series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. In addition to exploring Anakin’s gradual disillusionment with the Jedi Order, The Clone Wars introduced his then-brand-new Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano, who has since become a fixture of modern Star Wars media. After appearing in The Clone Wars’ animated sequel Star Wars Rebels, Rosario Dawson — who previously starred with Christensen in 2003’s Shattered Glass — would play a live-action Ahsoka in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett before receiving her solo series Ahsoka last year. Ahsoka also saw Christensen reprise his role as Anakin, while Barbie’s Ariana Greenblatt played Ahsoka’s younger self in multiple flashbacks.
To further honor the prequels’ anniversary, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace will briefly return to theaters this year starting May 3. The next live-action Star Wars release, The Acolyte, will reportedly drop on Disney+ on June 5, though this date hasn’t been officialized yet.
The Star Wars prequel trilogy is available to stream on Disney+.
