Why Hayden Christensen Quit Acting After Star Wars
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There are a number of issues that Star Wars fans like to pick on when it comes to the prequels, and one element that takes a lot of heat is Hayden Christensen’s performance as Anakin Skywalker in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. Though he’d been acting for more than a decade before his stint as the future Darth Vader, he took a break from Hollywood and recently revealed why.
As it turns out, it wasn’t due to fan backlash against his turn as Anakin. Talking to Yahoo, he disclosed that it was more that he felt like hadn’t earned his newfound status. He said:
"I felt like I had this great thing in Star Wars that provided all these opportunities and gave me a career, but it all kind of felt a little too handed to me. I didn’t want to go through life feeling like I was just riding a wave."
Revenge of the Sith, the third Episode and final installment of the prequel trilogy, hit theaters in 2005, and though Christensen appeared in a few projects here and there afterwards, most notably Jumper, he largely took a break from the industry. In 2007, he bought a farm in Ontario, Canada, and spent a great deal of time renovating the property and learning about the day-to-day mechanics and operations of such an endeavor. (In 2013 he actually teamed up with Canadian retailer RW&Co to release a clothing line inspired by his farm.)
Though he’s appeared in a few things here and there, the last few years have generally been quiet for Christensen. There’s a substantial gap in his on screen resume from 2010 through 2014, though things have been getting busier over the last year or so. In 2014 he appeared with Nicolas Cage in the old timey adventure Outcast, as well as the crime actioner American Heist with Adrien Brody and Jordana Brewster, and last year he showed up in the faith-based drama 90 Minutes In Heaven.
Christensen seems to be pleased that he has a much lower profile these days, and though his roles may not be as big, it provides him with the opportunity to do things on his own and earn what he gets. He said:
"You can’t take years off and not have it affect your career. But I don’t know — in a weird, sort of destructive way, there was something appealing about that to me. There was something in the back of my head that was like, ‘If this time away is gonna be damaging to my career, then so be it. If I can come back afterward and claw my way back in, then maybe I’ll feel like I earned it.’"
Now that Star Wars: The Force Awakens is out and taking over the world, new information indicates that there was at some stage in the development process, an Anakin Skywalker scene in Episode VII. He would reportedly have shown up as a Force Ghost, though in what capacity and to who he would appear isn’t known. But given that Hayden Christensen appears to be at ease with where his career is at the moment, perhaps it’s for the best that it didn’t happen.
Comments
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props for ? finding a hobby instead of ODing in a hotel room
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i thought his performance as anakin was aight
and liked jumper too -
Didn't he do jumper and some movie in a hospital I think the "eye" or something? Oh and takers
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jumpers was a really dope concept, sam jacks was a beast too
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Having the jumper ability is top notch. That's better than flying and super speed IMO
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Those Star Wars checks were so good he can literally become a superhero tomorrow and he'll always have money to do whatever he wants until his dying days. When was the last time you seen Natalie Portman in a movie ? Exactly LOLOOLOLOLOL. They're eating good off them checks
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She been in a bunch of films since then. 21 to be exact. He's been in 10. -
Those Star Wars checks were so good he can literally become a superhero tomorrow and he'll always have money to do whatever he wants until his dying days. When was the last time you seen Natalie Portman in a movie ? Exactly LOLOOLOLOLOL. They're eating good off them checks .
Bruh she won an Oscar , and is in marvel movies -
jumpers was a really dope concept, sam jacks was a beast too
Yea I actually liked that movie as well the problem was once again writing but it had a lot of potential. -
Shizlansky wrote: »Having the jumper ability is top notch. That's better than flying and super speed IMO
Maybe flying, but not super speed, flash would be waiting for his ass to make that jump then knock the ? outta him, at every location -
StoneColdMikey wrote: »Those Star Wars checks were so good he can literally become a superhero tomorrow and he'll always have money to do whatever he wants until his dying days. When was the last time you seen Natalie Portman in a movie ? Exactly LOLOOLOLOLOL. They're eating good off them checks .
Bruh she won an Oscar , and is in marvel movies
blacc swan was the ? too
GIFSoup
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Shizlansky wrote: »Having the jumper ability is top notch. That's better than flying and super speed IMO
Maybe flying, but not super speed, flash would be waiting for his ass to make that jump then knock the ? outta him, at every location
He can jump anywhere in 1 second.
He can go from Nebraska to Istanbul in 1 second. And back to Nebraska in another second. Flash wish he could do that.
It's faster bruh. -
Why Hayden Christensen Quit Acting After Star Wars
He should've stopped before. -
Jumper was a slept on movie. Wasn't he in Awake too? That was good also.
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Jumper was a slept on movie. Wasn't he in Awake too? That was good also.
Yeah jumper was the ? so mad they never made a sequel like they did with the books tho -
Shizlansky wrote: »Shizlansky wrote: »Having the jumper ability is top notch. That's better than flying and super speed IMO
Maybe flying, but not super speed, flash would be waiting for his ass to make that jump then knock the ? outta him, at every location
He can jump anywhere in 1 second.
He can go from Nebraska to Istanbul in 1 second. And back to Nebraska in another second. Flash wish he could do that.
It's faster bruh.
I dont even read comics but know the flash is faster -
Melanin_Enriched wrote: »Shizlansky wrote: »Shizlansky wrote: »Having the jumper ability is top notch. That's better than flying and super speed IMO
Maybe flying, but not super speed, flash would be waiting for his ass to make that jump then knock the ? outta him, at every location
He can jump anywhere in 1 second.
He can go from Nebraska to Istanbul in 1 second. And back to Nebraska in another second. Flash wish he could do that.
It's faster bruh.
I dont even read comics but know the flash is faster
I'm pretty sure jumper is faster -
Lol. Super speed or teleportation. Definitely teleportation
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Melanin_Enriched wrote: »Shizlansky wrote: »Shizlansky wrote: »Having the jumper ability is top notch. That's better than flying and super speed IMO
Maybe flying, but not super speed, flash would be waiting for his ass to make that jump then knock the ? outta him, at every location
He can jump anywhere in 1 second.
He can go from Nebraska to Istanbul in 1 second. And back to Nebraska in another second. Flash wish he could do that.
It's faster bruh.
I dont even read comics but know the flash is faster
I'm pretty sure jumper is faster
faster from A to B but then his movements are slower when he wants to punch/kicc flash -
Ima watch jumper later for the hell of it
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He was in takers
Anyway his anakin wasn't bad -
He was in takers
Anyway his anakin wasn't bad
True I think people criticized him and Natalie Portman because their chemistry was off And thats why alot of folks hated the prequel series. Well and lame ass jar jar binks -
Jake Lloyd really did quit acting and never made another movie mainly because people in school would bully him with stuff like making light saber noises when he'd walk by. Oh well he was trash as Anakin too, I cringed when he spoke his first lines in Episode I.
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How do you tease a kid for being in a movie though? Lol
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Clone Wars Anakin was a whiny ? . His Revenge of the Sith Anakin was better tho.
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How do you tease a kid for being in a movie though? Lol
Lol because he was ? in it. His first lines when he was like "I am a person!!! My name is Anakin" made me laugh and cringe at the same time. Lloyd and Christensen were both terrible actors but also weren't nearly convincing enough to play the person who would later become Darth Vader. No confidence, not bad ass enough, etc. The way he was simping for Natalie Portman was pitiful to watch, I just couldn't imagine the future Darth Vader simping for no ? .
