Hayden Christensen is the feature story in the latest edition of Arena Magazine in the UK. Here's an excerpt:

On May 1st, 1977, at the Northpoint cinema in San Francisco, George Lucas screened Star Wars for the very first time. He and all his friends were convinced that he?d committed commercial and professional suicide. Instead, the preview audience went wild. so did the rest of the planet. Against all the odds, Lucas had created the most successful film series in history, re-invented the film industry and introduced us to the most iconic screen villain of all time.

A quarter of a century later, on May 16th 2002, Lucas releases Star Wars ? Episode II: Attack Of The Clones. This time, the guy with everything to prove is a little known 20-year-old Canadian actor called Hayden Christensen. He?s the man who would be Darth Vader.

On May 12, 2000, Lucasfilm announced that the poster-boy for its next two Star Wars films: Episode II ? Attack Of The Clones and the as-yet unfilmed and untitled Episode III would be played by the previously unheard of Canadian actor Hayden Christensen. Chosen from thousands of hopefuls and a "shortlist" of 442 actors (among them Leonardo DiCaprio; Dawson?s Creek?s Joshua Jackson and James Van Der Beek; Ryan Phillippe; American Beauty?s Wes Bentley; American Pyscho star Christian Bale and Tom Hanks? son Colin) the now 20-year-old actor had been plucked from relative obscurity to play the most famous villain in screen history, Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader.

Having already carved a niche in various small-time TV and film dramas as the guy to call if you needed someone to play a ******-up, drug addicted, possibly sexually molested teen, Christensen now gets the chance to essay the role of the most disenfranchised young man in the universe. Anakin is by turns immature, hot-tempered, aggressive and often arrogant. None of which describe the real life Hayden Christensen. He is playing Skywalker/Vader on the cusp of his turn to the dark side, certainly the most complicated and confusing period of his life. It is a role which requires considerable acting chops. Encouragingly, a raft of critical applause and a clutch of award nominations (among them a Screen Actor?s Guild and Golden Globe) attest to his burgeoning talent. For his part, the normally reticent Lucas is in uncharacteristically bullish mood about both this instalment of the saga and his lead actor, explaining that Christensen displayed in spades two of the characteristics that Anakin needed: vulnerability and edginess. "He is very talented, has a great command of his craft, and I know that he has the physical and emotional attributes to play Anakin Skywalker at perhaps the most complex stage of his life."

For the full interview, you can pick up the latest edition of Arena Magazine at your larger international booksellers and magazine stores.