Hayden Christensen Biography

Hayden Christensen (born April 19, 1981) is a Canadian actor and producer. He began his career on Canadian television at the age of 13, then diversified into American television in the late 1990s. He was praised for his acting as Sam in Life as a House (2001), earning Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. Christensen gained international fame for his portrayal of Anakin Skywalker (Darth Vader) in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005). His honors for these films include a nomination for the Saturn Award for Best Actor and the Cannes Film Festival Revelation Award.

Early life

Christensen was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, to Alie (ne Nelson), an American speechwriter, and David Christensen, a Canadian computer programmer and communications executive. His father is of Danish descent, and his mother has Swedish and Italian ancestry. Christensen is one of four children, with an older brother, Tove (also an actor and producer), an older sister, Hejsa, and a younger sister, Kaylen.

Christensen was raised in Thornhill, Ontario. He attended E. J. Sand Public School, Baythorn Public School, and Unionville High School in Unionville, Ontario. He was an athlete in high school, playing hockey competitively and tennis on a provincial level.

He spent summers on Long Island with his maternal grandmother, Rose Schwartz, and attended the Actors Studio in New York City, as well as the Arts York program for drama, at Unionville High School. He was "discovered" when his older sister, a former trampoline champion, was searching for an agent after she landed a role in a Pringles commercial.

Career

1993-2005

Christensen made his acting debut in September 1993, when, at the age of 12, he played a supporting role on the German-Canadian television series Macht Der Leidenschaft/Family Passions. The following year, he had a minor role in John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness. From 1995 through 1999, he appeared in several films and television series, including Harrison Bergeron, Forever Knight, Goosebumps, The Virgin Suicides, and Are You Afraid of the Dark?

He acquired wider notice while starring in Fox Family Channel's television series Higher Ground in 2000, portraying a teen who was sexually molested by his stepmother, and then turned to drugs in his despair.

Christensen's critically acclaimed portrayal of a misunderstood teenager in Life as a House (2001) earned him Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations, as well as the National Board of Review's award for Breakthrough Performance of the Year. However, the performance did not receive widespread public notice. In 2002, Christensen made his London theatre debut with Jake Gyllenhaal and Anna Paquin in This Is Our Youth.

He went on to receive good reviews for 2003's Shattered Glass, which tells the true story of journalist Stephen Glass, who was discovered to be fabricating stories as a writer for The New Republic and other publications. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote, "Hayden Christensen is sensational as Glass, finding the wonder boy and the weasel in a disturbed kid flying high on a fame he hasn't earned." In 2005, Christensen made his Broadway debut when he appeared briefly in a 10-minute play.

In 2005, he took part in the fifth annual "24 Hour Plays" benefit, which raises cash for nonprofit groups in the Big Apple.

Star Wars

On May 12, 2000, Christensen announced that he would be starring as Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005). The casting director reviewed about 1,500 other candidates before director George Lucas selected Christensen. Lucas is quoted as saying that he chose Christensen because he "needed an actor who has that presence of the Dark Side". This was essential to solidify the story that Lucas was trying to tell: Anakin Skywalker's fall from grace and transformation into Darth Vader.

During the production of Revenge of the Sith, Christensen asked Lucas if a special Vader suit could be constructed to fit his own body, rather than have a different actor don one of the original sets of Vader armor worn by David Prowse. Lucas agreed, and a suit was engineered to fit Christensen's frame, even including extensions to allow for the actor to attain Vader's height. His voice as the "robotic" Vader, however, was dubbed over by James Earl Jones, who first made the voice famous in the original trilogy.

Stock footage of Christensen was used in the 2004 DVD-release edition of Return of the Jedi, where he was inserted to replace Sebastian Shaw as the ghost of the redeemed Anakin Skywalker. This was one of the most controversial changes. Lucas wanted Anakin's inner person to return to who he was before he turned to the dark side. Christensen insisted this was done without his knowledge, an act that was confirmed by Lucasfilm itself in the featurette "Return of the Jedi: What has changed?" as seen on the official website to commemorate the 2006 DVDs.

His performance in both Episode II and III received generally mixed reviews by critics (earning him the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor in both films).

Christensen was named in both People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People and Teen Peoples 25 Hottest Stars under 25. For his performance in Episode III, he won the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain.

2006-present

Between 2006 and 2007, he starred in Awake, with Jessica Alba, which tells the story of a man who remains awake but paralyzed during heart surgery, and co-starred in Factory Girl, opposite Sienna Miller and Guy Pearce. Christensen next co-starred with Samuel L. Jackson, Jamie Bell, and Rachel Bilson in the film Jumper, the story of a young man who discovers he has the ability to teleport; the film was released on February 14, 2008. Bilson and Christensen co-starred again in the same segment of the film New York, I Love You. Christensen appeared opposite Mischa Barton in Virgin Territory, which was released directly-to-DVD in North America on August 26, 2008. The film, based on The Decameron, is about a group of people who escape the Black Plague epidemic by hiding out in a Tuscan villa in Italy.

In October 2009, Christensen started shooting the horror film Vanishing on 7th Street, directed by Brad Anderson, with Thandie Newton and John Leguizamo. Christensen appeared in the crime drama Takers with Idris Elba and Paul Walker, released in the United States on August 27, 2010. Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey is the fourth film in which Christensen stars with Samuel L. Jackson.

In 2010, Christensen sued USA Network over allegations that they stole his idea for the TV show Royal Pains. The suit alleges that Christensen met with USA to pitch a similar series entitled Housecalls. During the meeting, Christensen alleges, he was never informed that a similar program was in development. Although a federal judge at first dismissed Christensen's lawsuit in 2011, in June 2012, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals reversed this decision and remanded the case back to the district court for further proceedings, in what was considered a legal victory for Christensen.

On May 20, 2013, during the Cannes Film Festival, the Russian company Enjoy Movies announced the creation of Glacier Films, an alliance company with Christensen and his brother Tove. Over a three-year period, Glacier Films intends to make 11 "micro-budget" movies costing $1.5M each. The first project, American Heist, starring Christensen, Adrien Brody and Jordana Brewster, started filming in June 2013. It is a remake of Steve McQueen's The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery. In 2014, he starred in the American-Chinese-Canadian film Outcast, an action drama, alongside Nicolas Cage.

Personal life

In 2007, Christensen began dating actress Rachel Bilson, with whom he filmed the movie Jumper. They became engaged on December 25, 2008. In mid-2010, they broke up, but began dating again a few months later. On October 29, 2014, Bilson gave birth to their daughter.

In 2007, Christensen bought a farm near Uxbridge, Ontario. He noted in 2008 that he had been renovating the property himself and devoting time to learning about "livestock, crops, and agricultural machinery". In November 2013, Christensen collaborated with Canadian fashion chain RW&Co to release a men's clothing line inspired by his farm.

An avid Toronto Maple Leafs fan, Christensen performed a public service announcement for Do Something's Teens for Jeans Campaign in 2008. He modelled in Louis Vuitton's advertising, and was also named as the face of Lacoste's newest fragrance, Lacoste Challenge. He was featured in RED's Lazarus Effect Campaign, which is intended to increase awareness for its efforts to fight AIDS in Africa.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Character	Notes
1995	In the Mouth of Madness	Paper boy
1996	No Greater Love	Teddy Winfield
1995	Street Law	Young John Ryan
1998	The Hairy Bird	Tinka's date
1999	The Virgin Suicides	Jake Hill Conley
1999	Free Fall	Patrick Brennan
2001	Life as a House	Sam Monroe	Young Hollywood Award One to Watch - Male National Board of Review - Best Breakthrough Performance by an Actor Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role - Motion Picture Nominated - Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated - Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Breakthrough Performance Nominated - Chicago Film Critics Association Awards - Most Promising Performer
2002	Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones	Anakin Skywalker	Cannes Film Festival - Male Revelation Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor Nominated - Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor Nominated - Saturn Award - Cinescape Genre Face of the Future Award Nominated - Teen Choice Award - Choice Movie Actor: Action Nominated - Teen Choice Award - Choice Movie: Chemistry (shared with Natalie Portman) Nominated - Teen Choice Award - Choice Movie: Liplock (shared with Natalie Portman) Nominated - Teen Choice Award - Choice Movie: Male Breakout Star
2003	Shattered Glass	Stephen Glass	Las Palmas Film Festival - Best Actor (shared with Peter Sarsgaard) Nominated - Satellite Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama
2004	Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi	Anakin Skywalker	DVD Re-release
2005	Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith	Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader	ShoWest - Male Star of Tomorrow MTV Movie Award for Best Villain Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor Nominated - Saturn Award - Best Actor Nominated - MTV Movie Award for Best Fight (shared with Ewan McGregor) Nominated - Teen Choice Award - Choice Movie Actor: Action Nominated - Teen Choice Award - Choice Movie: Villain
2006	Factory Girl	Billy Quinn
2007	Awake	Clayton "Clay" Beresford, Jr.	Nominated - Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Screen Combo (shared with Jessica Alba)
2007	Virgin Territory	Lorenzo de Lamberti
2008	Jumper	David Rice	Nominated - MTV Movie Award for Best Fight (shared with Jamie Bell)
2009	New York, I Love You	Ben	Segment: "Jiang Wen"
2010	Takers	AJ	Nominated - Black Reel Award for Best Ensemble
2010	Vanishing on 7th Street	Luke Ryder
2010	Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey	Jammer (voice)
2014	Outcast	Jacob
2015	American Heist	James Kelly
2015	90 Minutes in Heaven	Don Piper
2017	First Kill	Billy	Completed
2017	Numb, at the Edge of the End	Kurt	Post-production
2018	Little Italy	Leo Campo	Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	Family Passions	Skip McDeere	Unknown episodes
1995	Love and Betrayal: The Mia Farrow Story	Fletcher	Television film
1995	Harrison Bergeron	Eric	Television film
1996	No Greater Love	Teddy Winfield	Television film
1996	Forever Knight	Andre	Episode: "Fallen Idol"
1997	Goosebumps	Zane	Episode: "Night of the Living Dummy III"
1999	Real Kids, Real Adventures	Eli Goodner	Episode: "Paralyzed: The Eli Goodner Story"
1999	Are You Afraid of the Dark?	Kirk	Episode: "The Tale of Bigfoot Ridge"
1999	The Famous Jett Jackson	Steven	Episode: "Popularity"
2000	Trapped in a Purple Haze	Orin Krieg	Television film
2000	Higher Ground	Scott Barringer	22 episodes