Hayden Christensen (born April 19, 1981) is a Canadian-American actor and producer. He began his career on Canadian television at the age of 13, then diversified into American television in the late 1990s. He was praised for his acting as Sam in Life as a House, which earned him nominations for both the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award. He was also nominated to the Saturn Award for Best Actor and earned the Cannes Film Festival Revelation Award for the Star Wars movies. He gained international fame for his portrayal of the young Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.
Christensen was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, to Alie, an American speechwriter, and David Christensen, a Canadian computer programmer and communications executive. His father is of Danish descent and his mother has Swedish and Italian ancestry. Christensen is one of four children with an older brother, Tove, an older sister, Hejsa, and a younger sister, Kaylen.