Hayden Christensen Discusses Anakin Skywalker's Return in 'Ahsoka' and Dark 'Star Wars' Themes at Celebration

One of the most thrilling announcements from Star Wars Celebration is that Hayden Christensen will reprise his role as Anakin Skywalker in Season 2 of Ahsoka. Following this exciting news, we had the privilege of discussing with Christensen his experience returning to the role after nearly two decades, his appreciation for the darker aspects of Star Wars, and even his favorite Anakin meme.

Our conversation kicked off with Christensen expressing his desire to explore more stories from the Clone Wars era. "I would love to get to do some more of the Clone Wars-era," he shared. This is understandable as, aside from a notable scene in Ahsoka and minor appearances in the films, much of the Clone Wars-era Anakin has been portrayed in animation by Matt Lanter.

Christensen also mentioned that his friend Ewan McGregor would be interested in revisiting this period. "It's a cool look. It's a cool sort of period in Star Wars and I think there are great stories that we could tell there. So who knows, maybe one day," he added. While acknowledging that it would "require a little bit of aging" magic, Christensen remains enthusiastic about continuing to explore Anakin's journey, including delving deeper into the Darth Vader timeline.

"I love this character," Christensen affirmed. "I would love the chance to continue to explore Anakin's story some more and hopefully do the Darth Vader timeline a little bit more too. I think there are more stories there to be told."

Our discussion then shifted to the upcoming 20th anniversary of "Revenge of the Sith" on May 19, 2025. Christensen appreciates the film's bold choices in exploring darker themes. "George Lucas made some very bold choices and I love that he did that," he said. "However, he did it in a way that we could still digest everything. For example, Anakin is killing younglings, but we don't actually see it. But yeah, I like it when Star Wars goes dark. That works for me."

Reflecting on returning to the role after nearly 20 years, Christensen noted, "Of course it feels different. I'm different. I've had 20 years of life that I didn't have before, and that just sort of changes your perspective on things. But in a lot of ways, I feel even more connected to Anakin now than I ever have because I've had more time to think about him and sort of try to understand him."

He views the return to the character as a unique acting challenge. "It's a very unique thing coming back to a role after all of these years and an interesting sort of exercise in the craft of acting, having to sort of account for that passage of time. But I feel very fortunate that I have the opportunity to do it."

As we concluded our conversation, we touched on the debate about the best order to watch the Star Wars films. Christensen remains open-minded: "Not really. I don't know that there is a right way or a wrong way, and I think there's merit to both. I think George Lucas would like you to start with episode one and experience the story in a linear fashion, but there's definitely something to be said for starting with episode four. I've thought about it myself as I have yet to show my daughter the films... I mean she is going to see her dad do some sort of gnarly stuff."

Finally, we couldn't resist asking about the numerous Anakin memes and which one Christensen favors. While he's seen the infamous "sand" meme countless times and enjoys the one with him and Padmé in the field, his current favorite is a meme featuring Emperor Palpatine pleading with Anakin not to let Mace Windu kill him, to which Anakin replies, "He's just reflecting your lightning back at you... just stop shooting lightning!"