It feels like just yesterday the then 21-year-old Hayden Christensen was staring in his first Star Wars flick: 2002’s Episode II: Attack of the Clones.
When he’s not lamenting how sand is coarse, rough, and gets everywhere, Christensen has had a far more private life than his other Star Wars counterparts. Co-stars Natalie Portman (Black Swan, Jackie, Thor) and Ewan McGregor (Christopher Robin, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen) have gone on to become award-winning Hollywood stars.
Christensen on, the other hand, has disappeared from the spotlight. He still takes a few film roles but is far from the blockbuster staple his counterparts have become.
Because of this, there’s very little that fans know about him other than his time with Star Wars. So, here are five little-known facts about the galaxy’s chosen one.
1. Christensen started acting at 8 years old
Many Star Wars fans won’t remember Christensen for his earliest role, but the actor got his career off to a start at the young age of eight years old. His first role came in a Canadian soap opera called Family Passions.
In the series, Christensen played Skip McDeere, a young boy coming to grips with the divorce of his parents.
Skip McDeere would, of course, not be Christensen’s first role as a struggling young adult, as he took over the role of troubled Anakin Skywalker from young Jake Lloyd in Episode II: Attack of the Clones.