by Paul Fischer

Until recently, 19-year old Canadian actor Hayden Christensen was hardly a household name. But come next summer, expect the young actor's image to be pasted on every major magazine cover in the world. He is, after all, the new Anakin Skywalker in Episode II and Episode III of the huge Star Wars franchise, who eventually becomes Darth Vader. Before Christensen heads off to a galaxy near you, he will appear as the more down-to-earth rebel without a cause in the very human comedy/drama Life as a House. In a very candid discussion with CrankyCritic.com, it was a very grounded Mr Christensen who talked abundantly about Star Wars, the prospects of fame and celebrity, and playing an angry young teenager in his first starring role.

When one first sees Hayden Christensen on screen in the new Irwin Winkler-directed dramedy Life as a House, the actor, playing a troubled teen in that movie, has blue-bleached hair and an assortment of jewellery that immediately defines the angst of this character. In person, young Hayden is well kempt, confident and polite, dealing with the new pressures of fame and media attention. The confident young actor is clearly miles apart from this character and his celebrated role of Anakin Skywalker, but the actor has learned to deal with the spotlight and the kind of success he has reluctantly found himself a part of. "I think you can give it the credence it deserves, which isn't too much," the actor quietly explains. "I think that if you don't take it too seriously and just take it as it comes, keep your ambitions where they were before, and then you'll be alright." Those 'ambitions' Christensen speaks of, he elaborates, "Were merely succeeding as an actor and just wanted to make good films."

Before he graces our screens next year in Episode II, Christensen will first pop up opposite Oscar-winner Kevin Kline in Life as a House. The film revolves around George Monroe (Kline), a middle-aged architect who, when confronted with life-changing news, seizes the opportunity to begin living on his own terms. In the process of changing himself, those he was previously alienated from, including his ex-wife (Kristin Scott Thomas) and troubled teenage son (Christensen), begin gravitating back to him, only to find their own lives affected in the most unexpected ways. For Christensen, darkening his hair and wearing jewellery, afforded him the chance to play a character so unlike him, including on a physical level, he explains. "One of the things I find about acting is that the less the audience knows about the actor, the more they're able to believe in him in the role. I think that's one of the reasons I was selected to play Anakin, was because of that. So if I was going to do a film before Star Wars, I wanted to be as unrecognisable as possible."

For much of Life as a House, we see a brooding, intensely angry young man, and the actor says that it was easier to play the character than he was expecting. "It's always easier, I suppose, to play someone who has some grave dysfunction; it's a crutch that you can work on." Christensen shot Life as a House having completed most of his work on Episode II. Contrasting these two very different experiences, Christensen recalls having had such fond memories of his experience on Star Wars "that I was concerned about doing something so different. But it was a challenge to play more of a character", he explains. Episode II was a very different experience, he explains, given the blue screen he had to work with for much of the shoot. "It's actually not too dissimilar from theatre in that you have to create your own stimuli which demand a lot more of your imagination." Unlike Life as a House "where I was working as a real actor and it was something I needed."