Hayden Christensen says returning to Darth Vader for Obi-Wan Kenobi was “cathartic”

“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!