Articles
5 Great Hayden Christensen Performances (That Aren’t Star Wars)
While Hayden Christensen’s career may have started with an explosive debut in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones as Anakin Skywalker, he has been involved in more films far beyond the galaxy far, far away. He has tackled complex dramas, tense thrillers, and charming romantic comedies, showing a range of talent while depicting characters grappling with intense emotions or extraordinary circumstances.
While Star Wars has become synonymous with Christensen’s name, a look at his other work reveals a talented actor who has actively sought out challenging and varied roles, demonstrating his range as a performer and proving himself outside of the Jedi Order and the Dark Side.
5) Shattered Glass
Christensen delivers what critics and audiences alike widely consider to be his finest performance, portraying real-life journalist Stephen Glass, a celebrated young writer for The New Republic who was exposed for fabricating stories. He masterfully captures the complex blend of boyish charm, fake earnestness, and charm that allowed Glass to deceive his editors and colleagues for years.
His subtle, textured performance is a riveting character study of a serial liar. Christensen’s Glass is a whiny, self-pitying man who uses his apologetic nature and awkwardness to manipulate everyone around him, narrowly avoiding being caught until the very end. His performance anchors a film that tackles a complicated man, journalistic ethics, and betrayal.
4) Life as a House
In this 2001 drama, Christensen plays Sam Monroe, the deeply troubled and alienated teenage son of a man (Kevin Kline) who decides to rebuild not just his dilapidated house, but his relationship with Sam after receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis. Christensen earned a Golden Globe nomination for his impressive performance as a young man grappling with a range of emotions, from anger to love.
Sam starts as a sullen, rebellious, young man with dyed hair and multiple piercings, struggling with substance abuse and self-destructive tendencies. Over the course of the summer, Sam’s gradual, hard-won transformation is brought to life by Christensen as his defensive armor slowly chips away as he bonds with his father.
3) Awake
This psychological thriller stars Christensen as Clay Beresford—a young, wealthy man undergoing a heart transplant who experiences “anesthetic awareness,” becoming fully conscious but paralyzed during the procedure. While suffering this horrifying condition, Beresford has an out-of-body experience and stumbles upon a massive conspiracy regarding his life insurance payout.
Christensen’s performance captures the terror and panic of being awake and feeling unspeakable pain during heart surgery, all while unable to alert the doctors. As the plot unfolds with major twists, his performance shifts skillfully, managing the transition from an unsuspecting protagonist undergoing a life-saving surgery to a man caught in a horrifying conspiratorial nightmare.
2) Jumper
In Jumper, Christensen steps into the science fiction genre again, but with a different set of powers. He plays David Rice, a young man who discovers he can instantly teleport anywhere in the world. He uses this ability selfishly at first, living a life of luxury by robbing banks. However, his illegal actions draw him into a secret war between “Jumpers” and an organization trying to exterminate them.
The action-thriller shows off Christensen’s chops at tacking a character who isn’t exactly on the right side of the law—a lazy and self-absorbed self-perceived hero. Christensen portrays the rush of unchecked freedom David rides, making the audience understand the draw of a world without boundaries, even as his recklessness leads to more and more danger.
1) Little Italy
In this charming 2018 romantic comedy, Christensen plays Leo Campo, a pizza maker in Toronto’s Little Italy whose life is complicated by the return of his childhood friend and romantic rival, Nikki (Emma Roberts). The story centers around the feuding families, whose competing pizza shops stand side-by-side on the same block.
The role is a departure from Christensen’s darker roles, showing off a lighter, more comedic side of his skillset as a performer. Leo is goofy and big-hearted, but trapped between his family’s traditions and his own goals, as well as a lifelong romance he can no longer ignore.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
The post 5 Great Hayden Christensen Performances (That Aren’t Star Wars) appeared first on ComicBook.com.
