SWC '23: OBI-WAN KENOBI Star Hayden Christensen Reflects On Shooting Darth Vader's Broken Mask Scene

SWC '23: OBI-WAN KENOBI Star Hayden Christensen Reflects On Shooting Darth Vader's Broken Mask Scene

Talking at Star Wars Celebration this past weekend, Anakin Skywalker actor Hayden Christensen revealed why the scene with Darth Vader's broken mask in Obi-Wan Kenobi's final episode is his favourite...

By JoshWilding - Apr 11, 2023 05:04 AM EST
Filed Under: Obi-Wan Kenobi
Source: SFFGazette.com

In the Obi-Wan Kenobi finale, the Jedi Master and his former Padawan and friend Anakin Skywalker came to blows in one of the franchise's best lightsaber duels. 

Initially outmatched by Darth Vader, Obi-Wan reconnected with the Force and managed to defeat the Sith Lord. However, before they parted ways, Anakin's face beneath his helmet was exposed and what followed was an exchange that ranks about the Star Wars franchise's greatest scenes. 

During a panel looking back at Obi-Wan Kenobi's first season this weekend at Star Wars Celebration, Hayden Christensen was finally given the chance to reflect on stepping inside Vader's suit for that huge moment. 

"Just within the context of the Saga, it's a great bit of Star Wars," the actor told fans. "[It's] a really important scene, not just to the tragedy of the character of Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader, but the tragedy of the relationship between Anakin and Obi-Wan."

"Deborah [Chow], I can't thank you enough. The way it was scripted, the way the whole thing came together on the day...so much of why that scene works is because of Ewan's performance and the heartbreak that you experience."

"You get to understand the duality a bit better and the struggle of identity. I'm very, very proud of that scene."

"Coming back and getting to continue with the Darth Vader character...you know, we speak about them separately, but Vader is Anakin," Christensen added. "It's just an evolution of the character. To get to explore that was really fulfilling."

Ewan McGregor also chimed in to say, "There was something about the experience of working together again. We just love each other, you know, and hadn't seen each other for such a long time. In the moment of shooting it, all of that was alive in the scene. That's beautiful when that happens."

This conversation between Obi-Wan and Vader is one that's stirred a great deal of debate among fans. Was there a glimmer of good in Anakin in a moment which saw him seemingly free his old Master of the burden of turning him into this monster or was he simply taunting the Jedi? 

That's up to you to decide, but we can only hope both of these actors get the chance to return to their respective roles sooner rather than later...

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Fogs
Fogs - 4/11/2023, 5:46 AM
Yeah the series was a tragedy allright.
FireandBlood
FireandBlood - 4/11/2023, 6:01 AM
I love how this guy has gone from being the most vilified cast member to a fan favourite. It’s great to see him finally get to enjoy this part of it.
captainireland
captainireland - 4/11/2023, 8:11 AM
@PlusUltra - absolutely. I got to meet him at Celebration this past weekend and he was super sweet. And the amount of love and excitement he got from fans over the weekend was wonderful and well deserved.
Conquistador
Conquistador - 4/11/2023, 6:06 AM
One of the greater moments in an otherwise mid series. It's probably quite difficult to get much out of Hayden as a performer due to Vader always being masked up and his age just doesn't work for those flash backs anymore, unless they really invest in the deepfake stuff, like they did with Luke's second appearance in Book of Boba, as the flash back saber duel just looked bad until it was touched up with a proper deep fake.

I hope for some flash backs in Ashoka or a maskless vader filled with rage and struggling to talk. that would be dope.
Repian
Repian - 4/11/2023, 6:08 AM
oh, wow, I forgot this Show exists.

MartianManHuntr
MartianManHuntr - 4/11/2023, 6:13 AM
Star wars is creatively bankrupt but it's corpse will be mutilated beyond recognition.

Just keep milking it, keep using these dilapidated characters for eternity. Nothing interesting is going to come out of this series.

Fogs
Fogs - 4/11/2023, 7:49 AM
@MartianManHuntr - Sad but true.
Boycee
Boycee - 4/13/2023, 8:31 PM
@MartianManHuntr - Cringe harder, crybaby neckbeard
DarthNihilus
DarthNihilus - 4/11/2023, 6:54 AM
too bad the season was mostly all about Reva....

Twenty23Three
Twenty23Three - 4/11/2023, 7:19 AM
Great show, a lot of people are bitchy about it but it’s Star Wars. People have been bitching since return of the Jedi.
Fogs
Fogs - 4/11/2023, 7:50 AM
@Twenty23Three - newsflash: people have different opinions.

I know, I know. It's a shocker.
Twenty23Three
Twenty23Three - 4/11/2023, 7:59 AM
@Fogs - … nothing I said would suggest otherwise, so?
mountainman
mountainman - 4/11/2023, 8:00 AM
@Twenty23Three - The show was terrible. You don’t get to dismiss people with different opinions from you. I can just easily dismiss those that are easily entertained and accept anything thrown at them.

Andor proves that quality Star Wars is possible. Too bad just about everything else Disney has done has been a complete miss.
Fogs
Fogs - 4/11/2023, 8:11 AM
@Twenty23Three - maybe I misread that "bitchy" part
Twenty23Three
Twenty23Three - 4/11/2023, 8:33 AM
@mountainman - if you didn’t like it that’s fine, but again, I never dismissed anyone else opinion. If me mentioning that a lot of people were bitchy about it upsets you, that’s on you.
Twenty23Three
Twenty23Three - 4/11/2023, 8:34 AM
@Fogs - well yeah. Saying people where being bitchy doesn’t mean I said ‘No one’s allowed to dislike this because I like it’ everyone’s always putting 2 and 2 together to get 5 nowadays.
jst5
jst5 - 4/11/2023, 3:26 PM
@mountainman - Yea it was BAD...only Disney could mess up a Kenobi show.

Mando season 1 and 2 was great also..The Hack has messed up season 3.Anything she touches turns to shit....so Mando has a rough road ahead to get back on track.
mountainman
mountainman - 4/11/2023, 3:30 PM
@Twenty23Three - Oh it doesn’t upset me. It’s just wrong. The show was objectively bad and brought down Obi Wan as a charcater.
Twenty23Three
Twenty23Three - 4/12/2023, 2:46 AM
@mountainman - haha sure it was buddy. Who’s the one dismissing opinions now?
mountainman
mountainman - 4/12/2023, 8:05 AM
@Twenty23Three - When you started off the thread saying that people who disliked this are bitchy, I really don’t care.

If you want to like a show where a little girl has super running powers, that’s on you.

If you want to watch a show where someone is cartoonishly carried out of a fully staffed Empire base under a coat, that’s on you.

If you want to watch a show where the secondary antagonist is mad at Anakin for killing Jedis, but then joins him “undercover” and kills a bunch of jedis, that’s on you.

Then we have:

- Obi Wan leaving his post guarding Luke and almost getting him killed
- The laser blocking the road that could have been easily walked around
- The non-sensible first fight between Obi Wan and Vader where Vader should have been able to kill Obi Wan if not for bad writing
- The fact that the entire existence if this show undies dialog from A New Hope
- The “hero loses their powers trope” that seemed to only be included to make the early season more of a struggle and really didn’t make sense in continuity.

Look. Enjoy whatever you want. Enjoy everything Disney puts out. I’m sure their stakeholders appreciate you.
Twenty23Three
Twenty23Three - 4/12/2023, 12:50 PM
@mountainman - again, I didn’t call people who disliked the show bitchy, I said some people where being bitchy about it and you decided I was talking about everyone who didn’t like it. You on the other hand, have proven to be the exact type of person I mean. So well done I guess?
Boycee
Boycee - 4/13/2023, 8:31 PM
@jst5 - TOUCH....GIRLS.....FREAK
Doomsday8888
Doomsday8888 - 4/11/2023, 7:22 AM
Rather than Chow, thank the Rebels crew cause that's where they got this "amazing idea" lmfao!
dragon316
dragon316 - 4/11/2023, 7:38 AM
Was series slow yes it was was it boring some episodes maybe unlike andore it kept me wanting to see more do want season two of obi wan no Ashoka in more excited with I expected obi wan series be more like show
mountainman
mountainman - 4/11/2023, 8:02 AM
@dragon316 - Slowness wasn’t the problem. Obi Wan being written terrible and Leah and Reva being the main charcaters and both being annoying and terribly written was the biggest problem. The Obi Wan Anakin stuff was mostly good (besides the very weird first fight).
Fares
Fares - 4/11/2023, 9:18 AM
It makes me sad that we live in a world where the Obi-Wan series was nowhere near as good as a series about some Andor guy.
CoHost
CoHost - 4/11/2023, 9:46 AM
They own the rights to his voice. They'll run him to the grown. Grab some random janitor who can fill the suit and you're good to go.
Supes17
Supes17 - 4/11/2023, 10:37 AM
Should’ve been a film, not a series
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