Obi-Wan Kenobi star Hayden Christensen chats about returning to his iconic role and whether or not he hopes to flesh out Vader even further.
With two episodes left to go, the Obi-Wan Kenobi has fans waiting with bated breath to watch what is sure to be an epic showdown for the wizened Jedi and his once-promising padawan Anakin Skywalker. Ever since it was known that Lucasfilm was bringing back not only Ewan McGregor to reprise his role but also Hayden Christensen, the series has felt like an event decades in the making, meant to provide closure for a story Star Wars started in 1977’s A New Hope.
While Christensen has yet to appear much outside of the Vader suit in the episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi that have already aired, his presence brings with it all the weight of the complicated dynamic between Anakin and Obi-Wan. Audiences may have to wait another week to learn if Anakin will show his face to his old friend, or otherwise appear in flashbacks to flesh out their bond, but there’s no doubt that Hayden Christensen has already long left his mark on the franchise.
Screen Rant spoke to Christensen about visiting such an iconic character after so many years, whether he’s done with the role after Obi-Wan Kenobi, and what line he hears most often from fans.
Screen Rant: Whenever you’re paired with Ewan, the interviews always start with people saying, ‘Hello there.’ I’m very curious what your line is. What is the line that you get the most from fans?
Hayden Christensen: I don’t have a ‘Hello there’ line. What line do I get the most from fans, though? I think, ‘May the Force be with you’ is probably the one I get the most, which is a nice one. I’m happy with that, because there’s a nice sentiment to it.
This is a limited series. Do you feel like this is your only time revisiting Vader or do you feel like, as you would say, this is where the fun begins?
Hayden Christensen: I don’t know. I can’t answer that question. I certainly would love to continue with this character, and I feel like there’s more there to do. But we’ll see.
Is there anything that you’re particularly interested in? We’ve seen you as Anakin making that shift into Vader, but we really haven’t seen you as Vader, Full, Dark Side – and it’s been really awesome to see.
Hayden Christensen: Oh, yeah. In preparing for this, I did as much research as I could. And I got to read some of these Darth Vader comics; these standalone comics that just focus on Darth Vader, and [there’s] some really interesting stuff there. I don’t know, though. But I would love to get to do this again.
We know James Earl Jones is being used. Are you doing any of the voice at all? Is it a combo of you two or anything like that?
Hayden Christensen: The voice is James Earl Jones, and that was always just integral to this character.
Iconic.
Hayden Christensen: Yeah, such an iconic voice. How my voice is used? I don’t want to give anything away, but I think they have incorporated my voice a little bit here and there.
What’s the number one thing that you would do if you had the Force? I think about this on a daily basis. I would get my remote. What would you do?
Hayden Christensen: Oh, I don’t know. Certainly Jedi mind tricks. That would be a good power to have.
Get out of speeding tickets.
Hayden Christensen: Yeah.
When you go to the grocery store, do you do the thing that I do where you pretend that you open the doors?
Hayden Christensen: I think I’ve done it maybe a few times. [Laughs] Just to make yourself chuckle
I think it’s really cool that you’re revisiting Anakin and Vader at the same time that Natalie Portman is going back to the Thor franchise. I’m curious if you’ve seen the photos of her as Mighty Thor?
Hayden Christensen: No, I haven’t. She’s playing a Thor? I knew that she was in the Thor movies.
She’s gonna be Thor. She’s going have the power of Thor, and she looks amazing.
Hayden Christensen: Oh, cool! Amazing. Yeah, she’s an incredibly talented actress.
Amazing. Thank you so much. May the Force be with you.
May the Force be with you.
Obi-Wan Kenobi Synopsis
Obi-Wan Kenobi begins 10 years after the dramatic events of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith where Obi-Wan Kenobi faced his greatest defeat—the downfall and corruption of his best friend and Jedi apprentice, Anakin Skywalker, who turned to the dark side as evil Sith Lord Darth Vader.
Check out our interviews with Obi-Wan Kenobi stars Ewan McGregor and Moses Ingram, as well as director Deborah Chow.
New episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi premiere on Disney+ every Wednesday.
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