Hayden Christensen Biography and Pictures

Hayden Christensen (born April 19, 1981) is an actor who became famous by playing Anakin Skywalker (the later Darth Vader) in the movie Star Wars-Attack of the Clones. He was born in Vancouver, Canada, but he was raised in Toronto, Canada. He was involved in Canadian television programs when he was young. He later diversified into American television movies and television programs in the late 1990s.

Filmography

Life as a House (2001)
Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002)
Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones: The IMAX Experience (2002)
Shattered Glass (2003)

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Hayden Christensen made headlines in the spring of 2000, when director George Lucas announced that the 19-year-old actor would play the much-coveted role of Anakin Skywalker in Episode II and Episode III of the venerable Star Wars franchise. Born in Vancouver but raised in Toronto, Canada, Christensen became involved with Canadian television productions at a young age and carried his skills over to American TV movies and series in the late '90s. Though he would appear briefly in 1999's The Virgin Suicides for director Sofia Coppola -- a family friend of Lucas' -- it was Christensen's work in the Fox Family Channel's drama series Higher Ground which convinced Lucas to give the actor a reading. Adamant in his desire to find new talent for the role, Lucas passed over such potential adolescent Anakins as Ryan Phillippe, Jonathon Jackson, and even Leonardo DiCaprio in favor of Christensen. It remains to be seen whether the young actor will survive the typecasting that a similarly unknown Mark Hamill suffered some two and a half decades prior, in Episode IV.