Hayden's Audition Tape for Anakin and First Day on Set - Star Wars Lucas Files 2.2 

I don't care what people say, I think Hayden Christensen was a great Anakin.

Hayden IS Anakin Skywalker.

Hayden was a great anakin I hope he knows now that he really is appreciated by the fans

They should do a video of Hayden Christensen reacting to prequel memes. I’d love that.

Hayden Christensen was the perfect casting decision for these movies. He played the role as best he could and more than makes up for the Prequel films with Revenge of the Sith.

I think every kid dreamed of being Anakin Skywalker, or just being as cool as Hayden

My man got to kiss Natalie Portman. Imagine

Nothing beats S.Jackson’s face when he realises he’s getting purple

Hayden was so excited that he got to be anakin. I love that.

The hate you got was inexcusable. He was the perfect Anakin and he took this role so damn seriously! The perfect man for the perfect character

People hate on George for over use of Cgi but don’t realize he always wanted to experiment and innovate. And he did, the technology he needed to develop these movies became mainstay and it’s thanks to the prequels that CGI is how it is today, People really take for granted how much George changed the way movies were made. The prequels will continue to age like fine wine.

Prequels are a million times better than the Sequels.

Hayden Christensen was perfectly casted as Anakin Skywalker

The early 2000's prequel era was golden. All the games, behind the scenes, books, and of course the movies themselves. These clips make me so happy

I love Hayden's Performance. He made Anakin one of my favorite characters

I am so thankful to Lucas for choosing Hayden for the role of Anakin. Hayden was perfect for the part.

I will never understand these people that thrash Hayden for being terrible, and then turn around and praise some actor from the 60s and 70s that acted the exact same way

No wayyy George designed that dress for Padme lol he's a savage!

Hayden is so awesome ...it’s so unbelievable that he wasn’t in the sequels ...I think that will be remembered as the biggest cinematic BLUNDER in history!....yup lookin at you Kathleen

Can't get enough of Hayden ✊🏾

*Hayden arrives for his first day on set* George Lucas: OK Hayden so your first scene will be in the deserts of Tatoo- Hayden: *I HATE YOU!!!!!*

Hayden is one of the most influential people in my life

I grew up loving the prequels I thought Hayden did an excellent job

Hayden Christian was such an amazing actor, completely salvaged the iffy writing

I cant imagine another person playing anakin

What they did to him was wrong. What they did to Jake Lloyd was wrong. It's nice to see more people give the prequeld the love they deserve

Feel sorry for Hayden because he seems like such a nice genuine guy but unfortunately the movie didn't portray him as that. Hayden himself reminds me of clone wars anakin😂

I used to love AOTC so much, I got the VHS tape and watched it every day, shit, that was crazy, I mean for real: every day after school I watched it. Then because of too much of a use - it lost the quality and I saved my money to buy a new one! Years later while travelling through the web I was very VERY surprised to hear all the hate to prequels and AOTC. I was shocked! I love the movie so much and after that I visited a video game store and accidentally saw a new CD with a dude that held a lightsaber. It was Jedi Outcast. I was blown away!!! I loved SW earlier, but AOTC and Jedi Outcast made me a “forever fan” of the series. I love them all. Except for the Disney sequels...

Hayden did an incredible job as Anakin. The years have really built appreciation for the Prequel Trilogy. They meshed with the OT so well. I need to break out the old DVDs, seriously there was so much content with the first release

“He was the best starpilot in the galaxy, and a cunning warrior... And he was a good friend.”

George Lucas: "You are in this film, but I will not grant you good dialogue." Hayden: "This is outrageous! It's unfair! How can you be in a blockbuster movie, and not have good dialogue?" George Lucas: "Take a seat, young Christensen." Hayden: "Forgive me, director."

Im glad that the prequels are getting the love they deserve and that the fans apologized to Hayden. He really was the best person to play Anakin.

Hayden was a great Anakin and Vader! Loved him in that role!

Sad to see all of them praising Hayden just for all the fans to bash him when these first came out. Could have had a really bright career

It’s sad, Ahmed Best was such a hilarious and cool guy and haters had to come and ruin him, just like they did with Hayden Christensen.

Padmé’s costumes were so beautiful, literally my favourite costumes for a character ever! Trisha did a phenomenal job

40:54 I've always felt that shot/scenery was grossly underrated. That was a quintessential Star Wars moment. Sums up how I feel about Attack of the Clones in general; a highly underrated Star Wars movie. Especially towards the end. That reaction shot of Yoda sensing Anakin's conflict and requesting a ship to save Anakin and Obi-Wan from Dooku. The fact that this featured former master/apprentice and Obi-Wan was the apprentice of Dooku's apprentice. Lineage is always interesting, and they should've left in the deleted scene of the librarian and Obi-Wan discussing Dooku near his statue. I loved the moment when Padmé falls out and Anakin demands that the ship be landed. Those are the moments the prequels needed more of; it doesn't make Anakin's turn seem so abrupt. Even small things like Windu foreshadowing how he would kill Fett when he initially confronts Dooku (lightsaber to Fett's throat as he stated "this party's over"). We seen the "birth" of Boba which is pretty cool. Again, the prequel criticism isn't something I experienced until the internet, specifically around the time of the sequel (garbage) trilogy.

Man George Lucas is such a treasure, truly crafted new worlds and fantasy like none other, everything he made was so innovative, showing us things we've never seen or imagined before, sadly that's what the sequels lacked

Hayden it’s just too handsome and he’s perfect as Anakin 😍

He’s the type of guy that makes you happy idk hard to explain

Now that Hayden has played Anakin, I can't imagine anyone else as Anakin.

Absolutely love Hayden's attitude. He got a bunch of hate mail for his role in the prequels, but he just rolled it off his back. Much respect for him.

Padmé dresses were STUNNING!!! Her wedding dress!!!!- the costumer stayed up all night to add TINY PEARLS to the veil and dress because she thought it needed more. The costumers deserve so much more credit for what they do for Star Wars!

Watching this makes me so sad that we treated Hayden in this way. I truly hope he understands how much universal love he now has, and deserves to have.

Hey do a what if we’re Padmé was force sensitive and Anakin was a senator.

This makes me so sad to see because he looks so excited but at the same time this ruined his young adult life

“He’s brilliant. I love him to death. He’s a great kid.” 🥺🥺 I really can’t explain how excited I am for them to be back on the screen!! Hopefully together.

Honestly, the way hayden cameacross in the intervise he seems very excited and very genuinely friendly, seems like brilliant chap.

I learned, after getting some life experience under my belt, that the way Hayden played Anakin was PERFECT. You have to have been to some really dark places in life to KNOW the attachment and loss that Anakin experienced. Honestly...there have been many times in my life when I went to the dark side over love and attachment. Who hasn't??? He did a great job playing Anakin. Period.

Poor Hayden imagine receiving that much hate:( I thought he was brillant as Anakin, I really hope he can be in the Kenobi series.

Hayden was the perfect Anakin and will always be the perfect Anakin. I really hope he returns in the obi wan series

Hayden has emerged as pure gold since the sequels arrived and showed us real trash

I’m gunna be so sad when this series ends

13:41 ”always tries to set the bar a little higher” *shows 2 guys trying to set a bar higher*

THANK YOU THEORY no one relizes how beautifully Hayden played Anakin

coming back to this now that Hayden has been confirmed to come back and reprise his role

When this isn’t immediately copy striked: a surprise for sure, but a welcome one

Every time i see Hayden acting a scene in AOTC, i tear up, as he doesnt know the critiscism he was gonna get.

Exactly! Til this day I admire his dedication to Anakin

HAYDEN was the reason i started watching StarWars ❤️❤️❤️❤️he was soo amazing

Lucas,should of never sold his passion to the mouse.

"...young padawan trying to figure everything out" *drops lightsaber *

i love that fight with Jango and Obiwan when they both lost their weapons and Jango literally puts up his dukes and starts swinging at a jedi LOL

imagining mace windu riding on a gunship with yoda going, “you cool with that?” is what’s gonna get me through the next few weeks lmfao

I love Hayden, always have. Really took the character into his stride and everyone on the sets keep saying he’s a great actor. He is a great actor , just a bit of clunky dialogue. Hope we see Hayden again on screen soon. He should’ve been in episode 9

He shouldn't have gotten the hate he got... They just don't understand the character... Thank you! I think Hayden Christensen is a great actor

I've always compared Hayden Christensen to James Dean throughout the years. I've always thought he had flashes of that style and talent over the years as an actor

My boi has a crush on padme, but let's be honest. Who doesn't? Lol This was awesome! Keep it up :)

I remember when episode 3 came out on DVD, I bought the box set with episodes 1 to 6 and I remember to spending hours and days watching these extras.honestly I don't know what interested me more at the time the extras or the actual movies. Thank you for watching these with us, taking me back. Fun fact when I got the box set that was when I saw episode 126 for the first time, chronological order! I've been hooked since then!

Still my absolute favorite Character and Actor from Star Wars to this day 💯

Hayden is the best. i don't think I cloud watch the movies without Hayden playing Anakin. He is just so dramatic. I love it.

I’m so happy with how Hayden portrayed Anakin

I had such a crush on Hayden back in the day and I think I still might. That smile for one is infectious. He definitely didn't deserve the hate. He had some big shoes to fill and I think everyone would have had their own idea of what Anakin would be like, but I know I couldn't think of anyone better. I respected George's decision and that he made the films how he wanted. Of course now we've all seen the results of when that isn't the case.

I met several of the cast at Star Wars Fandays in Plano texas, I feel like its been, oh yes, more than a decade. It was before the Clone Wars Movie came out, because I saw the trailer for it, I was part of the premiere of that trailer. I got to shake Chewbacca's hand, meet Admiral Ackbar, met General Grievous, met all the female voice actresses from Gendy Tartarkovsky's Clone Wars, the great um, I know she was called Grey Deisle, but I forgot suddenly what she is going by now. Jeremy Bulloch, I was at one of his convention panels, where they had the full sized remake of his outfit on a dummy, he posed behind it and did the voice, even though he wasn't the original voice for Boba Fett, it was awesome!

he got hate why I loved his acting and character change especially in revenge of the sith

Man I could shed a tear, I loved him as anakin from the start, It took people way too long to realise how much work he put into his role, Its like they said, he tells so much just with his eyes, the constant fight between whats right and bad, what do he want and what not..

It was always so frustrating hearing my "normie" friends complain about his acting. He was trying to bridge the gap to vader, and he did the best he could with a less-than-stellar script. Anakin was an unbalanced but charming guy. And Hayden's Anakin did just that.

hayden chritensen is the perfect anakin, i love him so much

Just when you thought Twi'leks couldn't get any sexier this gem with that accent comes around at 10:51

Can’t believe they left this out of the skywalker saga so much heart and feeling gone from the Disney stuff

6:00 you make some very good points about line delivery and speech patterns, I never realised how good Hayden actually was.

I still remember watching AOTC and ROTS back to back for the first time at 11 yo (Ik, that’s a long time to watch SW for the first time) and just being speechless at the end of both films because they were great

I got chills when he said his first line. Hayden really is Anakin

I think Hayden had a great physical presence in his body language. That’s a real underrated part in acting we need to take in consideration.

Hayden was the perfect choice

You gotta love how people appreciate Hayden's acting much more these days

As a huge Hayden fan for over 20 years now, it's great to see him making a big comeback. I've always believed he was a great actor. Even outside of Star Wars, his performances in Life As A House, Shattered Glass, Awake, Vanishing On 7th St, American Heist, Takers and Higher Ground TV Series have always blown me away. He has always had a old hollywood vibe and aura to him as an actor. His charisma and magnetism is just different from a lot of other great actors of today. He's always reminded me of James Dean, Marlon Brando and Michael Landon on screen among other old school stars too

It saddens me to see these knowing the future. There was a loud, I'll say minority or at most half, of fans and media that took their hate too far by constantly throwing insults at the films and George, but there were many OT fans and new generation who loved the Prequels. It's because of the internet that people could nitpick them all to hell, while leaving the OT on a pedestal. If you look at the OT with the lenses Prequel haters use to nitpick those, there's as many and the same issues with the OT that the Prequels had. George had the same involvement and writing with the OT as he did with the Prequels, any idea either OT or PT, had to be approved by George. I've learned by watching certain content creators and commenters that if it happened in the Prequels it's bad but if it happened in the OT, it's either gold or crickets. These movies are good, there's more practical effects in each individual Prequel than the entirety of the OT, some of the CGI might be outdated but so are some effects from the OT, they also used blue screen with the OT, but either way effects and CGI were ground breaking, they invented a lot of tech to get things done that influenced the way movies are made. Then the dialogue-Most Prequel haters can usually only point to 4 or so lines of dialogue acting like that proves the entirety of the movies are bad. The acting was intentional-Jedi are out of touch stern monks, Anakin was a slave trained for 10 years to be an emotionless monk to let go of attachments, love, and compassion, constantly pressured by being told he's the chosen one who will do all these great things, then constantly sidelined and belittled by Obi-Wan and the Jedi, so he's a socially awkward hormonal arrogant teen who is trying to flirt for the first time. Most Prequel haters such as Cosmonaut and Red Letter Media either don't know what they're talking about, or most of their points are easily debunked by the info in the films, or they just have a lack of understanding for what is happening, I mean there was one guy that needed Alex Jones to make the politics make sense in the Prequels, which is sad because all he did was recap the films. Not to mention a lot of Prequel haters have blindly followed those individuals to hate the PT, and some either haven't seen the PT or Star Wars in general, but still hate on the Prequels. I feel a lot who hate the Prequels were brain washed and they have a negative stigma on them that they can't let go of. New comers to Star Wars who didn't have that bias like the Prequels. Lastly those who hate the Prequels but love the Cartoon Clone Wars is really weird, do you actually remember the show, all the "issues" you had about the Prequels are all in the show like all the political centric episodes, there was a crap ton, there were many episodes focused on JarJar, and other episodes with cringe love lines between Anakin and Padme, like when he was talking about his light saber being his life and he gives the blade to Padme, it was a lot more cringe in the episode, then there was the story where Anakin kept getting jealous about that guy senator, etc.. I and many others love the Prequels and The Clone Wars. George deserves respect and more recognition, he started the franchise you love to hate on. Most of the decisions he made is what fans love. A lot of the lore he added with the Prequels gets unknowingly accepted by the Prequel haters, like Palpatines name and Sith name, there being a Jedi Council, how the Jedi traditions work and what they look like and wear etc.. It's funny to see that happen.

If you rewatch the prequels, pay special attention to the sound. It’s exceptional.

I ❤️ loved Hayden in this role, he was fantastic in my opinion!

Poor Hayden and Ahmed they never deserved the hate they got, they were both brilliant in their roles. Can you imagine getting that much hate constantly...

That's a good point early on from SWT, regarding Hayden's delivery, that I've often thought of as well. He was dealing with being a young, energetic lead that had to conduct himself as someone who'd eventually become the darkly soft-spoken, robotic entity we all knew. He couldn't just go with whatever drama school chops he had, especially since you can just tell he wanted to please George above all - and he did, IIRC George has said Hayden was no less than "perfect."

The older I get, the more I realize that I enjoy the prequels more than any other of the movies.

As a Padmé fan (she is my second favorite character next to OT Luke), I like to think that SW Theory played the “P-19” featurette at the end because he was saving the best for last. 😎

He was the perfect Anakin I don’t care what anyone says

Hayden is the best. I love how dedicated he was to the role and the attention to detail that we can even appreciate today. This is one of my all time favorite movies. The ending is just brilliant. His performance when Anakin loses his mother is emotional.

I really don’t understand how people say he was a bad actor and was terrible in Star Wars

It's cool how Ahmed Best is just hanging around

SPOT ON BROOOO HES MONOTONE WAS A PART OF THE ACT. FINALLY SOMEONE SEES WHAT I SEE.!!!!!!!!

That scene of yours was absolutely amazing