Hayden Christensen Wasn't Considered For Rogue One's Darth Vader
Lucasfilm's Kathleen Kennedy opens up about why Hayden Christensen wasn't considered for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story's Darth Vader. The first installment in the planned Star Wars anthology series served as a bridge between Episode III — Revenge of the Sith and Episode IV — A New Hope and centered on a group of rebels working together to steal the plans of the Death Star led by Jyn Erso, the daughter of the scientist forced into designing the Empire's ultimate weapon. The story of Rogue One is the Rebel Alliance's first victory referenced in the opening crawl of A New Hope.
Felicity Jones led the cast of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story alongside Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk, Riz Ahmed, Jiang Wen and Forest Whitaker. Hailing from Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy and directed by Gareth Edwards, the film hit theaters in late 2016 to largely positive reviews from critics and audiences alike for its tonal departure from previous franchise installments, performances, visual effects and Michael Giacchino's score and was a box office hit, grossing over $1 billion against its $220 million budget. Rogue One's success would initially lead to the continuation of the anthology titles with Solo: A Star Wars Story, though the latter would lead to the halting of development on further spin-off movies due to its disastrous box office returns.
While discussing the actor and character's upcoming Star Wars return in Obi-Wan Kenobi with Entertainment Weekly, Hayden Christensen and Lucasfilm's Kathleen Kennedy looked back on Rogue One's Darth Vader. The studio head revealed Christensen wasn't considered to reprise his iconic villain for the spin-off film due to Vader's major scene being "such a specific action sequence." Christensen confirmed he "wasn't a part of any of those conversations" but said he "loved what they did with it" and thought it was "brilliant."
The scene Kennedy is referring to is one of the most discussed and memorable moments from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story in which Darth Vader rips through a number of rebel troops aboard a command ship in an effort to regain the Death Star schematics. As the Lucasfilm head notes, the sequence is a very action-heavy one that relied on the imposing physicality of the Sith Lord, making it understandable they would elect to hire professional boxer Spencer Wilding and stunt actor Daniel Naprous in Christensen's stead. Additionally, with Vader's only other scene requiring a bit of dialogue from James Earl Jones, the need to bring the Golden Globe-nominated Star Wars prequel star back to the fold ultimately wasn't there.
While Rogue One: A Star Wars Story's Darth Vader may not have been Christensen behind the mask, fans of the 40-year-old star have a lot to look forward to in the franchise's future. Christensen is gearing up to return for Obi-Wan Kenobi as Darth Vader as well as fellow Disney+ series Ahsoka, in which he is said to be portraying Anakin rather than the Sith Lord. In the meantime, audiences can revisit Christensen's Anakin with the Star Wars prequel trilogy streaming on Disney+ along with the iconic hallway action scene from Rogue One.
Source: EW