Lovely
Contents Magazine (Spring 2002)
Contents Magazine Interviews Hayden Christensen (Spring 2002)
Itās a typically wet and overcast morning when I arrive in London. After checking into my room at Blakes, I find myself strolling down Kingās Road and eventually inside a rather non-descript bookstore. On the bottom half of the newsstand there are stacks and stacks of newspapers whose headlines all announce the death of Queen Elizabethās troubled sister, Princess Margaret. Above this is a phalanx of Vanity Fairs on which we see Hollywood veteran Natalie Portman in a Renoir-esque reclination upon the likes of newcomer Hayden Christensen. One royal exits, another royal enters.
Hollywood royalty like Old World royalty can be attained by either marriage or birth-think Michael Douglas, Rob Reiner, Anjelica Huston, Jon Peters, Kate Hudson, Angelina Jolie, Kiefer Sutherland, Charlie Sheen, Candy and Tori Spelling, Lourdes etc. Talent is encouraged, but certainly not required.
Of course, entree into Hollywood royalty can also be somewhat more democratic than Old World. All one needs to do is put together a string of critical and financial hits over a decade or so, ala Tom Cruise or Tom Hanks, and hardly anyone will remember that you started off a pool-attending pauper before ending up a noble prince of Tinseltown.
And then thereās admittance to Hollywood royalty via the wild card. Every so often along comes a role so coveted-think Vivien Leigh-in a movie destined to be so classic, not to mention profitable-think Gone With The Wind-that the lucky soul who snags the part is instantly catapulted to the head of the coronation line and ceremoniously ushered into the kingdom. Forever.
And so shalf it be for 21-year-old Hayden Christensen. It was two years ago this May that Christensen, while starring in a Canadian TV drama (who knew Canadians possess drama outside of a skating rink) landed the acting gig of the new century. Insiders say Christensen beat out Hollywood royals Leonardo DiCaprio and Colin Hanks, Tomās son. The role, of course, is that of Anakin Skywalker, aka Darth Vader, in George Lucasās Star Wars movies, Episode II & III. Finally, the world will see Lord Vader as neither an 8-year-old prodigy nor upper-managementās masked malcontent, but as a villainous intergalactic hottie playing Natalie Portmanās Queen Amidala for all sheās worth. Talk about your Big Bang.
And if there were any naysayers occupying the Court of Lucas, all have since been rendered silent by Christensenās Golden Globe and S.A.G. nominated performance in last yearās Life As A House.
It is a Sunday afternoon when I sit down with the 6'1" Canadian somewhere in Kensington, only a stoneās throw from the late Dianaās former digs. It is also Haydenās only day off from his current project, the revival of Kenneth Lonerganās This Is Our Youth, playing in the West End. But before you read this Q&A I want to be fair, to set the record straight, as it were. If you ever get to spend five minutes with Hayden, he would tell you that all this talk about royalty and such was just so much conjecture by a writer looking for an angle. He would most likely confide that heās just an actor who got lucky. Or that heās (gasp!) no different than you or me. But isnāt that just like real royalty. They never lose the common touch.
Didnāt you have bronchitis?
Yes, I contracted bronchitis in September and just when I thought I was over I had to get on another long plane ride, Iāve had it three times so I have to give up smoking.
You just got back from your photo shoot. So how was it working with the famous Duane Michals?
I really enjoyed him. Heās very quick. He only needs a couple of rolls for each shot. We had this one shot in Trafalgar Square where Iām running through the birds and there was this old bird lady who was really getting upset with us. She said we were disturbing their meal. Duane was like, āGet away from us! We donāt care what you have to say.ā He really articulated how uninterested he was with what she had to say. Duaneās a bit of a character. The whole premise of the shoot was that your character was able to write in his diary every morning exactly what would happen to him that day. In a lot of ways thatās you. How do you feel about that?
You really canāt be that fortuitous in your thoughts, but Iāve always aspired to be successful at whatever it was I was focusing on. In my family we were all heavily involved in sports. Whatever our respective sport was we did it at a high level. But in this industry your measure of success isnāt necessarily parallel to the amount of effort youāre putting into it or how dedicated you are to your craft. Itās quite in frustrating at times⦠but itās nice to be choosier about the roles.
So how is this impending fame affecting your family?
Itās kind of disgusting how many people sort of come out from the woodwork after all this stuff started happening.
Have your brother or sisters said, 'Give up the business, Hayden a just give it up?ā
Nah. Theyāre very supportive. Theyāre not really as aware as I would like them to be about how itās going to be when Star Wars comes out. Itās really a hassle to get them to take their names out of the phonebook. 'Nah. Weāll do that later.ā It would really be a smart idea for them to do that now.
How do you think your next Christmas is going to be when you go home?
Honestly, no different than my last Christmas. The ritual is very intense. We always have it at our house in Toronto. The same people come over every year. Itās my favorite time of year. Maybe theyāll get nicer presents. [laughter]
I heard youāre pretty good in tennis. What happened?
You mean why arenāt I playing now?
Right.
I love tennis, but I originally started playing competitive hockey when I was young because in Canada youāre handed a hockey stick as soon as you come out the womb. I started playing when I was 6 years old and by the time I got to be 16 I was playing at a really higher level. But I decided to quit because of all the politics having to do with scouting. It added a whole new layer in playing a really simple sport. So I decided to give it up on the one contingency that my father gave me: that I had to pick up another sport and play seriously so that I could have that experience of going to university on some sort of athletic scholarship like he did. My older brother and sister went on scholarships.
Donāt you think the womenās tennis circuit is more interesting than the menās?
I donāt know. I just donāt enjoy the womenās tennis as much as the menās. I know it sounds veryā¦
John McEnroe?
I know, I know. But it comes from me playing at a junior level.
Hayden, why would anyone want to become an actor, a job where you pretend for a living?
Thatās something Iām struggling with myself. Itās an odd profession. I came to many crossroads when I was deciding to go to university or not. I had to evaluate where my mindset was when it came to acting because I loved it, and it was very therapeutic. I think for me itās the process and not the product. Iāve always found it very intriguing to explore what motivates someone to do a certain action. Iāve always regarded myself as a sort of observer.
Plus, you get to live all these other lives.
Then thereās that thought that Iām not sure what I really want to be so Iāll be an actor and pretend I am all these different things.
Did you give yourself a time limit? Did you say to yourself, 'If I donāt succeed as an actor by this date, Iāll quitā?
I never honestly viewed success in this industry as it relates to your public profile or whatever you wanted to call it.
So here you are a Canadian playing an American in a play thatās going to run in England. Have you picked up any nasty habits? Are you resisting the urge to pick up the accent?
Itās just infectious. As an actor youāre very aware and you just let things affect you. Everytime I go to another country I start to play with the accent. I started saying wanker a lot. [laughter] I love all the British slang. Itās more humorous than derogatory. I saw Elijah Wood on Jay Leno and because he was working with all these Brits on Lord of the Rings he would fade in and out of this accent.
Speaking of Lord of the Rings, do you think it would have been better to film Star Wars Episodes I & II back-to-back like Peter Jacksor, did?
We couldnāt because my character, Anakin, has to age ten years. I still have some baby fat on my face.
So you arenāt worried about getting into some terrible car accident like Mark Hamill did between sequels?
Oh, God. I donāt even want to project myself there. But as a rule of thumb itās harder to revisit a character after youāve said your good byes.
Iām sure you had to hold something back in Episode II as a contrast to when you go completely evil as Darth Vader.
Itās really challenging. It requires a much more linear approach to how you see your character. Iām building an arc⦠character growth or whatever you want to call it.
More like character decay.
Yeah. So that arc is over the course of two films. In the second film I donāt even know what Iāll be doing. Itās a real trippy process. I spend a whole lot of time writing about my character, well all my characters, but for this I find it very helpful because it gives me a chance to revisit all the things I had defined as my characterās sensibilities.
Your character is really the first in all the Star Wars that has such a strong character development.
Weāre doing a lot of firsts. Weāre also tackling the topic of love, something that had yet to be done in Star Wars.
How does it feel to portray Darth Vader? I mean, there was Jake Lloyd who did it at age eight, and Sebastian Shaw played him when he was eighty-two, but youāre the first layable Darth Vader. [laughter]
Itās as nerve wracking as anything. Iāve decided not to worry about justifying getting the part. But itās a little too overwhelming to try and put what happened to me into perspective.
You got the part of Anakin almost two years ago. Has life changed? Be honest. I mean, I had a limo pick you up this morning. [laughter]
Yes, itās changed in a lot of ways, but what I hold dear and value I think Iāve been able to preserve. But my working experience has completely changed. Thereās a feeling that it has all happened too fast, but at the same time I do have my places where I can go. I still have my friends and family.
How are you going to deal with all the sycophants? Can you spot the phonies?
Yeah, I think so. Iāve had to already. Not fans but people who have different interests in relating to me. My circle of friends has become much more defined and smaller, which kind of sucks. But that is what comes with being in a film like Star Wars.
Did you ever hesitate about taking this part? For instance, Ewan McGregor got a lot of flack and people predicted he would never overcome his casting as Obi-Wan Kenobi. Of course, that hasnāt been the case. Look at Moulin Rouge.
No, but I donāt know what the response is going to be. The films Iām interested in are usually much smaller in scope.
In a way youāre in a damned-if-I-do, damned-if-I-donāt situation. If you start doing Indie parts people will say youāre trying to get your credibility back, and if youāre in another big movieā¦
Iāve sold out.
Tell me about George Lucas.
Heās unquestionably a brilliant storyteller. Heās really in his domain in an editing room. I think George was more excited by his work in this film because there was more of a story to tell. Because he had to set up things for these next two films. The first didnāt leave much room for human interaction.
Does Episode III end as a downer or as a question?
I think itās going to be a much darker film which George will really enjoy directing.
Does Jar Jar Binks finally get his in Episode II? [laughter]
Heās still in it. His part is somewhat modified. I canāt give too much away. Itās hard for me to talk about a film Iām extremely excited about and then say 'Sorry, I canāt tell you.ā But yes, Jar Jar is back.
Damn! When you came on the set was there any resentment among the established stars? Did Mr. Lucas warn the cast not to give you any shit?
There was none of that.
Oh, come on.
Honest to God. It was one of the warmest embraces for an actor stepping into an almost family structure.
Letās talk about Life As A House. Did you warn your mother about that opening scene?
No. [laughter] I told her that she was in for a lot. I went with my entire family to the opening at the Toronto Film Festival and I was petrified. It didnāt click until we were approaching the theatre that I was going to be sitting next to my mom while on screen I would be masturbating⦠having this erotic asphyxiation.
Did your mom lean over and ask, āHayden, have you ever done this before?ā [laughter]
No, they were able to accept that I was just playing a character. That was very cool. So now Iām less hesitant to have them come out and see my play.
Kevin Kline, I felt, was really ignored as far as awards go.
He was one of the reasons I was so anxious to do that film. I thought he gave a great performance.
Letās discuss what youāre doing here in London. Right now youāre doing This Is Our Youth. Youāre playing Dennis, the drug dealer.
Yes.
Youāre playing a lot of dark roles. Can you describe the play for me?
The play for the most part is two guys talking and commenting on different things that have happened in the past couple of days. What happens is that Warren steals $15,000 from his father and brings it over to my house. Weāve got this money, what are we going to do? Itās kinda like the frog in the hot water assimilation. If you have a frog and throw it into a pot of boiling water it will jump out. But if you keep turning up the heat five degrees every ten minutes it wonāt know when to jump out and then it will all be too late. In a lot of ways thatās whatās going on in the play.
Does either Warren or Dennis gain a perspective?
By the end of the play youāre aware that Warren is able to have perspective on everything that is going on and grow up ultimately. My character is pretty much a lost cause. Personally, I find him more interesting to play but the journey is in Warren.
I know itās a limited run but do you see it making its way to Broadway?
Theyāre toying around with the idea.
Weāve been talking about the dark side of things so let me ask how are you going to resist the dark side of Hollywood?
By resisting Hollywood altogether.
Do you have a home in LA?
I have a place there but I use it just for work, just a couple of months out of the year. I prefer to spend my time in Toronto. LA is not my favorite place.
Many a young actor has been chewed up and spit out by Hollywood. Whatās your game plan to avoid all that?
The exhausting aspect of being an actor is that youāre always on the job. You never really get to go home and say it was a hard day at work because youāre always analyzing what your character can and should be doing. In that way itās hard not to take on the mannerisms sensibilities of your character. So youāre always sort of in character.
But arenāt you afraid that by taking on so many characters thatā¦
I feel like Iām getting them out of the way now. This my first time working since Life Is A House and we finished that over a year ago. It took me awhile to recover from that experience.
How did it feel not hearing 'The Golden Globe for Actor goes to Hayden Christensenā?
I left the Golden Globes feeling that things went exactly right. I sat down the night before and tried to put things into an intelligent perspective. I thought, 'These are the people who voted for you because you were nice to them. You take your pictures with the Foreign Press and youāre very kind, so maybe this is why I got nominated.ā It was so absurd that I had to put the pen down and say Iām not going to win. So I went there hoping I didnāt have to get up on stage a wing it. I didnāt win, so it was good.
The Globes is such a surreal and intimate gathering.
Itās weird having Ian McKellan come up to you afterwards saying, āI loved your performance. I canāt wait to see your play.ā My play! How did he even know about it?
Hereās a cliche: Is there anyone youāre looking forward to working with?
John Tuturro is someone I really have to work with. I have to work with Meryl Streep. Iāve met a lot of famous people in the past couple of years and Iām always amazed how Iām not in awe of them- āOh, youāre just another normal personā-but when I met Meryl Streep it was like when I met Wayne Gretzky when I was eleven. "Oh, my God! Youāre the Great One.ā Sheās amazing.
Hereās your last question, Hayden: What are we most likely to hear about you in the National Enquirer?
Hopefully, everything thatās not true. [laughter]
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