Hayden Christensen returned to the role of Anakin Skywalker aka Darth Vader for the Star Wars series Obi-Wan Kenobi, stirring strong emotions among the crew.
It had been about 17 years since Hayden Christensen had worked alongside Ewan McGregor as Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005).
However, in the Star Wars series Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022), both actors returned once again to their iconic roles.
As Ewan McGregor explained in an interview with Vanity Fair on April 8, 2024, the moments when Darth Vader was back on set were likely very emotional for everyone involved.
Here you can see a trailer for Obi-Wan Kenobi:
As Ewan McGregor explained, it wasn’t actually a particularly emotional scene that he filmed with Hayden Christensen on the set of the Star Wars series. However, it was something special to be able to play those roles with his colleague again:
“I don’t think it was really written to be that emotional, but it had something to do with seeing Hayden [Christensen] and working with Hayden again in that state that made me feel that.”
But it didn’t seem to be something special just for the Obi-Wan actor; even the rest of the crew reacted to the moments when Darth Vader was on set with absolute silence, and sometimes a few tears were shed:
It surprised me just as much as everyone else. When it started, there were so many people on set. Every time Hayden was there, I mean, it’s a testament to the love people have for him that every time Hayden came on set, hundreds of people were there.
You could hear a pin drop. It was incredible. As we walked by, people were crying in front of the monitors. It was really amazing to do this.
Ewan McGregor, Source: YouTube
You can also find more about Star Wars here with our colleagues at Moviepilot: Star Wars: Episode I triggered the biggest cinema revolution of the 21st century in just 60 seconds
In an interview with Empire Magazine, Hayden Christensen expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to step into his Star Wars role again in Obi-Wan Kenobi and said that it allowed him to give his character even more depth:
“The scenes I got to play as Darth Vader in Obi-Wan were very important to me. The opportunity to give the character a bit more substance and to bridge the gap to Vader a bit more is a very rewarding thing.”
In another interview, the Darth Vader actor recounted the anecdote of how he growled at a child during the filming of one of the worst scenes in Star Wars to scare him more. You can read more about this here at MeinMMO: Star Wars: A child was not scared enough of Darth Vader, so he growled at him – Now he regrets it
