The Arizona Republic
Nov. 01, 2001 12:00:00
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That's because the 20-year-old Canadian was handpicked by director George Lucas to play the young-adult version of Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones.
Christensen is trying to lie low until the highly anticipated sci-fi flick is released in May, but the curious can catch him starting Friday as Sam, a rebellious son who dabbles in drugs and prostitution in the tearjerker Life As a House, also starring Kevin Kline.
Considering this role and some of Christensen's previous ones - as a drug addict on TV's Higher Ground, a psycho paperboy in In the Mouth of Madness and a sex-crazed schoolboy in The Virgin Suicides - it's clear that he has been channeling his inner Darth Vader on-camera for quite a while now.
"What's up with the bad-boy characters?"
"To be honest, it just kind of happened. In real life I'm the opposite, I swear. I never went through any of those things, like the rebelling stages, and I always had a good relationship with my parents. Who knows? Maybe this is my opportunity to vicariously rebel through characters like Sam. I can do all these things that I otherwise don't do."
"Sam is an extreme personality. How did you prepare?"
"It took a lot of work to find out why he would want to pierce his ears or put on blue eye shadow or prostitute himself. I went back to my old high school and sat in on classes. I wanted to get an idea of what it is to be 16 again. Off camera, I went into a very dark life. I became a hermit and didn't relate to anyone. It's hard for me to leave a role like Sam and drop it at the end of the day and be myself again. In the long run, I'm pretty proud of how it came out."
"Did the director let you contribute to the character?"
"Hmmm. There was a certain amount of freedom. A lot of it was in the script, except the blue hair streaks and his wardrobe. I got to choose the color of my eye shadow and I got to put it on. I had a whole ritual every morning of putting on the earrings and all the makeup."
"Do you think people will see this film to catch a glimpse of the new Anakin?"
"I don't know. There's a lot to be said about the less the audience knows about the actor, the more there is to please them by. That's one of the reasons George chose me, because you can't really have an established actor because you'll just see that actor. Since this" (Life as a House,) "was being released beforehand, I wanted to be unrecognizable so when people see me in Star Wars they could still feel that first-time impression."
"Are you preparing for the media circus that will come next spring?"
"It's like the peaceful calm before the storm. I have no idea what to expect when Star Wars comes out. I know it will be overwhelming. But my life didn't change too much after the announcement was made that I was in it. Just that people come up on the street to me now and very graciously say, "Congratulations for getting the part." It's not intrusive at this point."
"Are you plotting out your next career move?"
"Kind of. Nothing engraved in stone, though. I'm reading a lot of scripts. I just want something good, maybe something a little lighter. After playing Sam, I think I need a little bit of a reprieve."~
