Christensen, Hayden (1981– )

Canadian actor. As a virtual unknown, he was chosen over several big-name actors to star as Anakin Skywalker (the young Darth Vader) in the Star Wars prequels Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005), quickly achieving heartthrob status.

Though the Star Wars films propelled him to stardom, he proved his acting mettle in earlier films, as in the thriller In the Mouth of Madness (1994), the comedy Strike! (1998), and the dramas The Virgin Suicides (1999), Life as a House (2001), and Shattered Glass (2003).

Christensen was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, and grew up in Toronto, Ontario. His first professional acting role was in a television commercial at the age of eight. He starred in several television dramas as a young teenager before landing a starring role as a sexually-abused teen who turns to drugs in the Fox Family series Higher Ground in 2000. The same year he also appeared in the made-for-TV film Lost in a Purple Haze.