The Star Wars Scene That Changed Hayden Christensen's Relationship With George Lucas

Even though the second "Star Wars" prequel, "Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones," turns 20 this year, its place in the overall "Star Wars" mythos is still relevant, which means it's time for a deluge of retrospective interviews and other features. That's an especially fitting endeavor when it comes to prequel star Hayden Christensen, who is set to somehow reprise his role of Anakin Skywalker aka Darth Vader in the upcoming "Star Wars" series "Obi-Wan Kenobi," putting him back together with his old titular prequel mentor, played by Ewan McGregor.

Now, Christensen has done a fairly in-depth interview with StarWars.com, looking back on how he got the role of Anakin and what it was like entering the "Star Wars" universe for the very first time. And one of the treasures within is a memory the actor has about a particularly pivotal "Clones" scene that he says wasn't just pivotal for his onscreen antihero, but his real-life relationship with "Star Wars" auteur George Lucas as well.

If you're at all familiar with "Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones," you're familiar with the scene when Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) angrily lashes out at and massacres an encampment of Tusken Raiders who have kidnapped and ultimately killed his mother Shmi, an early example of Anakin's submission to the Dark Side of the Force. Afterwards, he tearfully confesses his actions to Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman), and it was this confession scene that Christensen says in his recent StarWars.com interview changed his relationship with director George Lucas.

"We all understood that it was an important scene for this character and for his arc," remembered Christensen, and the actor went on to recall that it took a few takes for him to find the right emotional balance for the scene. "George walked over to me and we had a really nice heart-to-heart conversation. I felt that scene was pivotal in my relationship with him as well, in terms of how we spoke about the work and the character," said Christensen, who went on to say that the fruits of that creative collaboration carried on to the next installment of the prequel trilogy, "Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith."

"We really opened up our dialogue, which then continued into Episode III. But yeah, that scene was a big one," he said.

The whole massacre sequence, followed by Christensen's visible angst and grief over his actions, is clearly one of the most important in the entire saga, showing both Anakin's tendency towards wrath and revenge as well as his conscience and doomed aspiration towards the light side of the Force. Now, we know that the scenes had a special creative and even personal significance for the films' star, too.