10 Actors Who Hated Working On Star Wars
8. Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker)
Hayden Christensen gets plenty of flak from fans for his performance as Anakin Skywalker in the latter two Star Wars prequels, though he was in no way aided by George Lucas' woeful two-hander as writer-director.
Though Christensen has been relatively diplomatic about the franchise over the years, and even made a subtle voice cameo in The Rise of Skywalker, he has also occasionally commented on his frustrations with the series. In a 2008 interview, he said:
"How those movies are made is very specific, as far as what our jobs are...George isn't looking for us to come in and have script meetings with him and talk about characters. It wasn't necessarily anything you could feel good about creatively, as far as 'This is why I became an actor.' It's not why you become an actor, to do stuff like [Star Wars]."
Christensen's career has been decidedly more low-profile post-Star Wars, shifting away from the blockbuster realm altogether. In a 2015 interview with the LA Times, Christensen said of his decision to step back:
"I guess I felt like I had this great thing in Star Wars that provided all these opportunities and gave me a career, but it all kind of felt a little too handed to me...I didn't want to go through life feeling like I was just riding a wave."
Then again, with rumours persisting that Christensen may re-appear as Anakin in an upcoming Disney+ series, perhaps he's made peace with the process - or was simply offered a dumptruck full of cash he couldn't turn down.