Hayden Christensen became an overnight star when George Lucas cast him as the older Anakin Skywalker in the last two "Star Wars" prequels, "Attack of the Clones" and "Revenge of the Sith." And if it seems as if you haven't heard from him since, then, well, there's a reason for that.
After becoming globally recognized at age 19, and the target of many criticisms directed at the prequels, Christensen walked away from the spotlight. He has spent most of the years since on his farm in Canada.
"I guess I felt like I had this great thing in 'Star Wars' that provided all these opportunities and gave me a career, but it all kind of felt a little too handed to me," the actor told the Los Angeles Times. "I didn't want to go through life feeling like I was just riding a wave."
It's an interesting remark from an actor who, beyond the "Star Wars" films, was building a respectable if limited filmography with movies like "Life as a House" and "Shattered Glass." Even the Doug Liman action/thriller "Jumper," starring Christensen in the lead, has its moments.
Now 34, Christensen was recently the lead in the faith-based movie "90 Minutes in Heaven," and he has starred in straight-to-video titles over the past few years. But from what he tells the Los Angeles Times, it sounds as if he's not against making a comeback — on his own terms.
"You can't take years off and not have it affect your career," he said. "But I don't know — in a weird, sort of destructive way, there was something appealing about that to me. There was something in the back of my head that was like, 'If this time away is gonna be damaging to my career, then so be it. If I can come back afterward and claw my way back in, then maybe I'll feel like I earned it.'"
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