Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Timeless Star Matt Lanter Undergoes Emergency Surgery With "Uphill Battle"
Actor Matt Lanter, whose work includes Timeless and voicing Anakin Skywalker across the Star Wars franchise, has reportedly undergone emergency surgery. The news was broken on Instagram by his wife, Angela Lanter, who posted a black-and-white photo of the couple's interlocked hands alongside an emotional caption. Angela indicates that Lanter has "started to turn the corner and is slowly getting on the road to recovery, but that that recovery will still be "an uphill battle", and asked for prayers. In a subsequent post, Angela elaborated on Lanter's condition, revealing that he had the surgery to treat a closed loop intestinal obstruction, which had been causing him to feel "intense abdominal pain."
Ashley Eckstein, who starred as Ahsoka Tano alongside Lanter on Star Wars: The Clone Wars, took to Instagram on Monday to share her support, saying that "the most powerful thing we can do for him right is extend our kindness, well wishes and prayers for good health and a speedy recovery." Eckstein then asked fans to "join me in sending love, the Force and prayers for Matt and his family."
Lanter got his start with stints on Point Pleasant, Heroes, Grey Anatomy, and Commander in Chief, before becoming a bit of a household name by voicing Anakin in the Clone Wars film and subsequent television series and offshoots. In the larger Star Wars realm, he contributed additional voiced to Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and played Lant Davan on a Season 1 episode of Star Wars: The Mandalorian.
"I actually had no idea I was auditioning for Anakin Skywalker," Lanter explained in a 2021 interview with StarWars.com. "They told me the role I was reading for was a character named 'Deak Starkiller.' I did a quick online search but there wasn't much out there, so I really had no idea. I remember Dave Filoni suggesting I give them my best combination of Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, and that's what got me the job. Obviously, there's a lot of Solo swagger in the Clone Wars Anakin, a lot more than Anakin in the films."
"When I booked that job, I had no idea what was about to happen for the next decade and more of my life, and counting," Lanter added. "All these years later, I have so many fond memories of working on The Clone Wars. My castmates, the producers, and everybody at Lucasfilm, they're like family to me. I made lifelong friends from making that show."
He has also lent his voice to a number of DC projects, playing Aquaman across Justice League: Throne of Atlantis, The Death of Superman, and Justice League Dark: Apokolips War, and voicing Blue Beetle in DC's recent Showcase: Blue Beetle short. His more recent roles have also included Liam Court on The CW's 90210, Wyatt Logan in Timeless, and George Hutchense in Jupiter's Legacy.
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