Hayden Christensen was born on April
19, 1982 in Vancouver, British Columbia to parents Alie (Nelson) and
David Christensen (both in the communications business). He moved
to Toronto while he was young. He has one brother, Tove (older) and
two sisters Kaylen (younger) and Hejsa (older).
Growing up in Canada, he was like most
other youths and focused on sports. Acting was not even a thought
at that time. However, he had the right look, and when his older
sister, Heisa, went looking for a talent agent of her own, he tagged
along and one talent agent told her that he should get his own agent
as well. He was not overenthusiastic about going into acting until
he saw his sister enjoying herself while filming a Pringles
commercial.
He began taking on small roles such as
Skip McDeere in the soap opera Family Passions (his
television debut) and as a Paper Boy in In the Mouth of Madness
(his movie debut). However, his true movie debut came a year later
in the B movie Street Law.
During this time, he still spent his
time going to school and playing sports. He competed in tennis and
hockey teams and attended the Unionville High School.
After graduating High School in 1998,
he took on other small roles, such as in the movie Strike!
and The Virgin Suicides the following year. This led to
other roles, such as on the TV series Higher Ground in 2000
and the file Life as a House in 2001. His role was so strong
in Life as a House that he won the NBR Award for Best Breakthrough
Performer by and Actor and was nominated for numerous awards
including: the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a
Supporting Role in a Motion Picture; OFCS Award for Best
Breakthrough Performance; Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding
Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role; and the CFCA Award
for Most Promising Performer.
In 2001, George Lucas was looking for
someone to play the role of an older Anakin Skywalker (Darth
Vader). Just as he did in the original series, he went with a
little known actor. This time it was Hayden Christensen who
received the pivotal role of his career. Star Wars: Episode II –
Attack of the Clones was released in 2002. Although a huge
moneymaker at the box office, the movie and its actors (himself,
Natalie Portman,
Ewan McGregor and others)
received mixed reviews. He was nominated for a few awards for this
role including the Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger
Actor and the Cinescape Genre Face of the Future Award.
In 2002, he crossed the big lake and
appeared at the Garrick Theater in London’s West End, in the role of
Dennis in the play This is Our Youth.
He took some time off from the Star
Wars set in 2003 and took on a role of a journalist in the movie
Shattered Glass which gave him a nomination for the Golden
Satellite Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion
Picture, Drama.
The world waited until the final Star
Wars movie was released in 2005. To the delight of most fans, the
movie was a success and Christensen proved many of his critics wrong
that he was not the right actor to take on this “historical” movie
role.
In 2005 he was awarded with the ShoWest
Award for Male Star of Tomorrow. Which is interesting, since he
stated in an interview in early 2005, that he may be thinking of
getting out of show biz. However, have no fear, he is already
working on his next movie, Decameron, slated to be released
in 2006. He has also formed a production company with his brother
called Forest Park Productions.
Hobbies and Interests: Hockey,
playing piano (blues and jazz), Tennis
Favorites: Food = bow tie pasta
& shrimp w/ broccoli his mom makes and pizza; color = blue
Biography by Ian Ripley,
PopStarsPlus.com, Sr. Staff Writer
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Hayden Christensen
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