Hayden Christensen thought he would lose the role of Anakin Skywalker when he learned that Leonardo DiCaprio was up for the role

Hayden Christensen he didn’t think he had any chance of landing the role of Anakin Skywalker George Lucas’ Star Wars prequel film. Christensen was not a well-known actor and when he learned that Leonardo DiCaprio was being courted by Lucasfilm, Christensen thought he would have no chance of getting the role. During an interview with Empire magazine, the actor explained:

“I had heard that they had met with Leonardo and a group of other actors. This simply confirmed my idea that the role would go to another actor. Throughout the entire audition process I had told myself, from day one, that I wasn’t going to get the part. It just wasn’t a possibility. And I think he probably helped me a lot, because he freed me in a lot of ways. And so it was really a surprise to me when I got the part.”

There is no doubt that it was an exciting call to receive! However, her casting and performance received a lot of backlash. Fans have since come to embrace him, but speaking of the negative reaction he said:

“The character was criticized, my performance was criticized and that part sucked. But I also felt like I had some context that maybe helped me a little bit. When “Episode I” came out, there was a lot of excitement that they were making a new “Star Wars” and that it was going to be Darth Vader’s backstory. But I had friends who were upset that the character started out as a little boy. And I watched the movie and I loved it. It was everything I wanted and more. And I didn’t understand the disconnect between the movie I saw and the negativity in some of the reviews.”

We then expanded our criticism of the film, saying:

“In some ways this kind of criticism, I think, comes from a certain failure to suspend disbelief. If you go sit in a theater and the opening scroll starts with “Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away,” that’s setting the stage that anything is possible. These people don’t need to sound and behave the way we might expect. And if you sit back and think that you’re getting something that’s in line with our current zeitgeist, then you’re setting yourself up for something else. You know what I mean?”

Now, fans are excited as Christensen reprises his role as Vader. He is celebrated by fans more than criticized. There was a time I never thought Christensen would play Vader again, now I expect it. What were your initial thoughts on the actor initially chosen for the role?