Although it’s the greatest thing that ever happened to their careers, Star Wars also pretty much killed any future career Mark Hamill or Carrie Fisher may have had. Typecasting got them. The whole world could only see them as Luke Skywalker and Princess Liea.
The folks over at MSNBC are running an interesting little article right now with Hayden Christensen who talks about the idea of being typecast because of his Star Wars involvement. I like what he had to say:
“I haven’t had that problem so far,” said Christensen. Since being cast as since he was cast as Anakin Skywalker, the future Vader, he has starred in two smaller character pieces, “Life as a House” and “Shattered Glass,” and in an upcoming adaptation of Boccaccio’s “The Decameron.”
“I think it’s a little dated, to be honest, the whole typecast thing,” Christensen recently told The Associated Press. “I think 20 years ago, 30 years ago, there was only one blockbuster that came out every few years, and so audiences got such a strong association with the actor and the role in the film. Now, there’s four or five a summer.”
He’s absolutely right. And for those of you out there who think this kid can’t act (just because of what you’ve seen in Episode II), I would highly suggest you go rent Life as a House, in which I believe he was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor.
