We Finally Know How Hayden Christensen Feels About The Dialogue In The Star Wars Prequels
"Star Wars" has been a massively successful franchise since its 1977 debut. That first movie was an instant success and went on to gross an astounding $775 million at the worldwide box office (per Box Office Mojo). This level of financial success would continue for all of the main entries in the "Star Wars" series, which culminated with 2019's "Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker."
However, the prequel trilogy that was released between 1999 and 2005 didn't exactly endear itself to critics or the fanbase at the time, overall. One of the biggest criticisms of the prequels boiled down to what many cited as overly cheesy or wooden dialogue. It's a fact that's even acknowledged by creator George Lucas in the book "The Star Wars Archives: 1999-2005" (via Syfy Wire), in which he admits that the dialogue veers into melodramatic, though he ultimately defends the choice.
Now, Hayden Christensen, who stepped into the role of Anakin Skywalker in the latter two films of the prequel trilogy, has finally revealed his own thoughts about the dialogue choices in the "Star Wars" prequels.
Hayden Christensen has defended the dialogue choices in the Star Wars prequels
During a recent interview with The Guardian, Hayden Christensen addressed the persistent criticisms that have been leveled at the dialogue in the "Star Wars" prequels. Overall, Christensen defended the melodramatic and corny style that Lucas went for in the film, believing it to be part of what made the films so distinct.
"George Lucas creates such a unique world where everything is so specific, from the way these characters look and the way that they talk," he said, "and I feel like sometimes people lose sight of that and they expect them to speak the same way that we speak -– and that's not what we were going for."
Clearly, Christensen still has a lot of love for the prequel films and the character in general. This is hardly surprising, given that the actor has just returned to the character of Anakin Skywalker, aka Darth Vader, for the "Obi-Wan Kenobi" series on Disney+. It will be interesting to see how the series' portrayal of the character will impact the fandom's opinion of Christensen's overall performance in the saga. Either way, it seems as if time hasn't lessened Christensen's opinion of "Star Wars" or the work he did in Lucas' prequels.