Hayden Christensen says returning to Darth Vader for Obi-Wan Kenobi was “cathartic”
Christensen admitted his re-entry to the Star Wars universe was a “very emotional experience”
Hayden Christensen is just as emotional as the Star Wars fandom about returning for Obi-Wan Kenobi. During a Disney+ press conference, the actor gushed over the opportunity to once again don the infamous Vader suit.
“I got a message from somebody first saying you might be getting a phone call very soon and immediately my imagination started to run wild. Then I got the call saying that Deborah Chow wanted to get together and talk about this Obi-Wan Kenobi show that she’s doing with Ewan,” he said, according to Insider.
“I was just thrilled,” he continued. “This is a character that means so much to me, and to get to come back and do more with it was just a thrilling opportunity.”
Per IndieWire, Christensen admitted it was a “very emotional experience” to embody Anakin later in his career as a Sith Lord. (He even reportedly binged all of “all of the modern Star Wars canon,” including the animated series, to prepare.)
“Obviously, it brought up a lot of feelings of nostalgia but it was also very cathartic in a way too, just because this is a character that means so much to me and has really sort of stayed with me over the years,” Christensen said.
Chow, the director, reiterated as much: “He’s been living with this character for a very long time, so he brings a tremendous amount to it. It just felt very organic and it felt like we really needed Hayden back in this story, particularly in relation to Obi-Wan.”
Christensen will be living with Anakin for even longer when he appears in Ahsoka, one of Disney+’s upcoming television installments in the Star Wars universe. Now that we’ve finally got him back in the suit, it looks like he won’t be getting out any time soon!