Hayden Christensen’s 10 Best Movies Ever (According To IMDb)

For anyone paying attention to both mainstream and indie movies during the 2000s, the name Hayden Christensen rings a bell. He starred in intellectual thrillers, Star Wars prequels, and familial dramas. By the end of the decade, though, it seemed he disappeared. What happened to Hayden Christensen?

It turns out his step back from the limelight was partially intentional. After Star Wars, which, while successful, garnered a lot of criticism, Christensen reportedly bought a bunch of farmland and spent five years away from movies. Ultimately, though, he will be remembered for a few stellar lead roles, as well as supporting roles in popular flicks. And, who knows. Maybe he’ll make a comeback one of these days.

10 New York, I Love You (6.3)

Hayden appears in this anthology film, alongside Rachel Bilson and Andy Garcia, in the segment directed by Chinese director Jiang Wen.

New York, I Love You, made in 2009, focuses around tales of love in the Big Apple. In this short, Hayden plays a pickpocket involved in a bizarre love triangle. Unfortunately, Jiang Wen’s segment is considered one of the low points of the movie, and many viewers found Hayden unbelievable as a thief and lowlife, even though he’s donning a fedora.

9 Factory Girl (6.5)

In this 2006 film based on the life of underground film star and 1960s socialite Edie Sedgwick, portrayed by Sienna Miller, Hayden Christensen plays Billy Quinn. Billy is a folk singer loosely based on Bob Dylan.

Sedgwick was known for her friendship with artist Andy Warhol, who ran the infamous Factory in New York City. In the film, Warhol is played by Guy Pearce. Hayden’s character becomes romantically involved with Edie, and their romance creates friction between her and Andy. While this bizarre love triangle is not based on reality, Edie eventually chooses Andy over Billy.

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8 Awake (6.5)

In Awake, Hayden Christensen plays a young billionaire in need of a heart transplant. Through a serious of supernatural events, the billionaire, Clay, realizes the surgeon in charge of his transplant plans to botch it and collect the insurance money from Clay’s death.

Clay also finds out his new wife, Sam, played by Jessica Alba, is in on the plot. While the 2007 film made over $300 million worldwide, it was not received well by critics. Many people found its convoluted plot and predictable twists unremarkable.

7 Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (6.6)

In this 2002 second installment of the Star Wars prequels, Hayden Christensen plays 20-year-old Anakin Skywalker. He’s Obi-Wan Kenobi’s apprentice, a young, impatient Jedi in training. Through the film’s now-famous events, Anakin falls in love with former queen Padme Amidala, played by Natalie Portman, while dealing with some serious loss.

Anakin’s mother perishes, and then he loses an arm while fighting against the separatist leader Dooku.  Despite all this, he’s considered the “chosen one” in Jedi prophecy. As the Clone Wars begin, the film ends. Episode II received mixed reviews, and many fans criticized its flat characters, including Anakin.

6 All I Wanna Do (6.7)

Hayden has a small role in this 1998 film originally released with the title The Hairy Bird. A coming-of-age comedic drama set in 1963, the movie focuses on what happens after an all-girl boarding school, Miss Godard’s School for Girls, is forced to merge with a boy’s boarding school due to budgetary issues.

In the movie, he plays the date of one of the main characters, Tinka, and he dances with her at the annual St. Ambrose dance. Hayden was just a teenager when the film was made.

5 Shattered Glass (7.1)

In this critically-acclaimed film, Hayden stars alongside Peter Sarsgaard in this 2003 drama based on the true story of journalist Stephen Glass. Glass, a reporter for The New Republic, was an up-and-coming newsmedia star when his colleagues realized the vast majority of his stories had been almost completely fabricated.

Hayden plays Stephen Glass, and his manipulative, eager approach to portraying the young journalistic won positive attention from multiple film critics. The film does a good job of exposing what really happens in the world of journalism.

4 In The Mouth Of Madness (7.2)

Hayden’s first feature role was in the 1994 John Carpenter horror film In The Mouth of Madness. The film stars Sam Neill, who plays an investigator hired to track down a missing author. The investigator, John Trent, soon finds himself in a serious predicament: the events of the author’s best-selling horror books are coming true.

Hayden was a young tween when he filmed his parts for this film. He’s credited as a paperboy, and his part in the film is quite minor.

3 The Virgin Suicides (7.2)

Sofia Coppola’s award-winning 1999 indie masterpiece The Virgin Suicides follows the downfall of the Lisbon family in the 1970s Midwest. With a star-studded cast and gripping plot, The Virgin Suicides was an underground hit.

Hayden Christensen plays Jake Conley, a friend of Josh Hartnett’s character, Trip, who agrees to take one of the Libson sisters to the Homecoming Dance so Trip can go with his crush, Lux. Lux, played by Kirsten Dunst, is abandoned by Trip after giving him the physical intimacy he wants, a catalyst for the film’s dark ending.

2 Life As A House (7.5)

Considered Hayden’s breakthrough performance, in this 2001 indie family drama, he plays Sam, a troubled young man who likes piercings and dark clothes. His estranged father, George, attempts to reconnect with Sam after he learns he has cancer.

In the film, George convinces Sam to help him build his dream house by the sea, and the two go through a difficult, but ultimately fulfilling, rebuilding of their relationship. A total tearjerker, Hayden’s transformation in the film caught many film lovers’ attention.

1 Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge Of The Sith (7.5)

The last in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, Revenge of the Sith explores Anakin’s evolution into Dark Vader. After Palpatine sets a seed of doubt in Anakin’s mind, the young Jedi finds himself torn between the Force and the dark side. Everyone knows which side ultimately woos Anakin.

Episode III is considered the best of the prequel trilogy, and fans were, overall, happy with how George Lucas resolved the various Star Wars storylines.

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