fyi.cnn.com Harcourt Riverdeep
 Mainpage
 News
 Student Bureau
 Homework Help
 Game Room
 Multimedia
 
Search



Privacy Guidelines
Feedback
About fyi

   

New Anakin Skywalker tapped for 'Star Wars'

May 19, 2000
Web posted at: 11:23 p.m. EST (0323 GMT)

LOS ANGELES, May 12 (Reuters) -- Filmmaker George Lucas has tapped a little-known 19-year-old Canadian actor, Hayden Christensen, as the new Anakin Skywalker for the next two instalments in the "Star Wars" movie franchise.

The Vancouver-born Christensen will fill the role previously played by actors ranging from 8-year-old Jake Lloyd in last year's "Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace" to 82-year-old Sebastian Shaw in 1983's "Return of the Jedi."

In the trilogy of "Star Wars" prequels, Anakin Skywalker is the young Jedi Knight who learns the way of "The Force" before turning to the "Dark Side" and becoming the evil Darth Vader.

Christensen will portray a mature Anakin for "Star Wars: Episode II" and "Episode III."

The selection of Christensen followed a screen test last weekend for the Anakin part with four finalists and co-star Natalie Portman at the Skywalker Ranch north of San Francisco, a spokeswoman for Lucasfilm Ltd. said.

Returning with Portman for the next "Star Wars" instalment will be fellow "Phantom Menace" stars Ewan McGregor and Samuel L. Jackson. Filming is slated to begin in late June in Australia, Lucasfilm said.

Christensen, who got his start in showbiz acting in commercials, currently stars in the Fox Family Channel cable TV series "Higher Ground," about a group of troubled teens sent to boot camp.

In a statement posted on Friday on the officials "Star Wars" Web site, www.starwars.com, Christensen said he was "stunned and in disbelief" at getting the part.

"It was only about a week ago that it started to hit me that I was testing for Anakin ... Darth Vader! It's just been sort of hard to grasp," he said.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.



© 2000 Cable News Network. All Rights Reserved. | Terms under which this service is provided to you.