Rosario Dawson talks working with Hayden Christensen and more in new interview

When actor Hayden Christensen returned to the Star Wars Universe as Anakin Skywalker and his alter ego, Darth Vader, the Star Wars fandom exploded. Many were happy to see him back as the conflicted Chosen One. And Ahsoka actress Rosario Dawson shared that same sentiment. 

In an interview with the Dagobah Dispatch podcast via Star Wars News Net, Dawson talked about working with Christensen on the set of Ahsoka while bringing to life one of the most integral relationships that shaped the Star Wars saga. She said:

"We had so much fun, and when I tell you like the entire crew made an excuse to be on set those days and it just brought tears to our eyes. It was wonderful. I love Hayden. He’s such a wonderful man."

During the interview, Dawson mentioned the journey she saw the Anakin Skywalker actor go through when meeting him years ago and seeing the reception he received when he reprised the iconic role of the Chosen One on the Obi-Wan Kenobi Disney+ series and how amazing it was to see him as different incarnations of Anakin.

"I got to know him a little bit when we were younger. I saw a lot of that journey that he went through when he first became a part of the series, and to see the reception he got on Obi-Wan Kenobi and the opportunity he got to be Anakin but Sith Anakin. We only got to see him become Darth Vader, but we didn’t get to see him sit for that a little bit. It was nice to see him in Clone Wars clothing."

Further into the interview, Dawson talked about how bringing characters like Thrawn and the characters from Star Wars animation shows, like The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, along with Christensen reprising the Anakin Skywalker role encapsulated into something incredible. She also added that she was happy to have the actor express a different dimension of the character and congratulated him in a text.

"All of that stuff, for me as a fan, from bringing Thawn from the books, these characters from the animation, and now Hayden from the films. It just brought all of the properties together in this incredible way and I was just so happy for him, that he got to express the fullness of his character, him being this teacher. See him being masterful in that way, I don’t know, I just loved it. I loved it for him. I texted him ‘Congratulations.’"

The actress also noted the challenging journey Christensen went through when portraying Anakin and that the reaction people received was deserving. 

"The reaction that people got is so deserving. I know he had a much more challenging time originally. So it feels really beautiful that we got to this place where the appreciation and clarity are there or what the whole scope of this universe is and what it has to offer."

Before bringing Ahsoka to live action, Dawson previously worked with Christensen on the film Shattered Glass. In the film, Christensen portrays disgraced former journalist Stephen Glass, who wrote fabricated articles for The New Republic. Dawson played a reporter from Forbes magazine that caught on to Glass’ deception. Glass would eventually be fired from The New Republic when most of his stories were discovered to be fabricated. 

Ahsoka is currently streaming on Disney +.