Monday, May 15, 2000
It's great that he's Canadian, but isn't he too cute to be Darth Vader?
That was the general sentiment among fans in the Silver Snail shop on Queen St. yesterday, which sells Star Wars comics, books and memorabilia.
They worried that 19-year-old Canadian actor Hayden Christensen, who will play Anakin Skywalker in the next two Star Wars films, is more dreamy than he is Darth.
'Dawson's Creek'
"I don't see evil - I see Dawson's Creek," said customer Chris Giadino, 29, a commercial director. "They shouldn't have gone with the pretty look."
Christensen who was raised in Thornhill, was chosen from 442 candidates, including Cruel Intentions star Ryan Phillippe, to play Anakin, a Jedi knight who is seduced by the dark side to become the evil Darth Vader.
At the Silver Snail, Giardino and other fans all agreed they were glad a Canadian actor was chosen.
"It gets us on the map," said clerk Justi Wilson, 20, who thinks it doesn't matter that the actor looks a little like a Backstreet Boy as long he is a decent actor.
"He's gotta be good-looking, right?" Wilson said. "His character is supposed to grab Natalie Portman."
While the 6-foot-1 Christensen, whose credits include the current feature The Virgin Suicides, has good looks that just may leave some breathing as heavy as Vader, Star Wars writer-director George Lucas is confident that the force is with the virtually unknown actor. Christensen will have to hold his own with actors Portman, Ewan McGregor and Samuel L. Jackson in the films, scheduled to be released in 2002, and 2005.
"He is a very talented, has a great command of his craft, and I know he has the physical and emotional attributes to play Anakin Skywalker," Lucas said
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