He may be the birthday boy, celebrating his 41st birthday but Hayden Christensen can’t be accused of not doing his homework. While Ewan McGregor revealed that he watched the entire nine movie saga for the first time since he appeared in the series, Christensen explained that in preparation for his return as Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader he not only watched the Skywalker Saga but also delved into The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels.
“I went back and rewatched all the films,” says the man who will be once again going behind the mask as Darth Vader. “And I also got into the animated shows, The Clone Wars and Rebels.”
There’s obviously a lot more Anakin/Vader content to consume in those series, which helped give the actor even more perspective and material to draw upon in terms on both what his character has been through in the years leading up to Obi-Wan Kenobi and what is on the horizon after.
“It was interesting,” Christensen says of binging The Clone Wars and Rebels. “They did a lot with these characters in those shows. And they did further explore the relationship. There was interesting stuff there to learn about. It was great fun getting to go back and re-immerse yourself in this world that just continues to grow and become more and more vast.”
Clearly he enjoyed the journey of Anakin, and we can only imagine what the fruits of McGregor and Christensen’s research will be. All shall be revealed on 27th May when the first two episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi arrive on Disney Plus.
