Star Wars: Hayden Christensen Defends George Lucas’ Prequel Trilogy Dialogue

The Star Wars prequel films were some of the most anticipated events in recent cinematic history, though audiences who grew up with the original films had various qualms with the new era of storytelling, as they directed their disappointment towards George Lucas for a number of reasons. One of the topics that drew criticism was the dialogue in the films, as its melodramatic nature wasn’t entirely what audiences were anticipating, yet star Hayden Christensen recently defended the dialogue in the films, pointing out that the drama was intentionally heightened from the more conversational tone that viewers might have been expecting.

“George Lucas creates such a unique world where everything is so specific, from the way these characters look and the way that they talk, and I feel like sometimes people lose sight of that and they expect them to speak the same way that we speak — and that’s not what we were going for,” Christensen shared with The Guardian. “He was very much like a mentor to me and he was so gracious with his time. I became very close with his family, and my family became close with his family.”

Given that the audiences who grew up with the original trilogy weren’t as big of fans of the youth-oriented prequel trilogy, there was considerable fallout among the fandom, which would understandably make someone apprehensive about returning to the galaxy far, far away. Christensen, however, didn’t at all hesitate based on the more critical reactions to the prequel films when it came to the choice of returning to the series for Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi.

“I guess the impression that I got from George Lucas was that if they don’t like them, then they don’t ‘get’ it — and that was good enough for me,” Christensen recalled. “It just seemed like a really exciting opportunity … It was a no-brainer. In a heartbeat. When I got the call, I was instantly elated … I was just so excited to get to come back after all these years.”

As far as whether he is concerned with fan reactions to the new series, the actor admitted, “I mean, it’s all on the table, but you know, that doesn’t get factored into these types of decisions for me.”

Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi premieres on Disney+ on May 27th.

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