Devoted Star Wars fans were upset after Hayden Christensen bailed on a fan convention panel to attend the NBA Finals.
Videos by Suggest
According to TMZ, Christenson was set to attend a panel at the SpaceCon in San Antonio, Texas, last week. However, his appearance was short-lived. He got up mid-panel to announce that he was going to the second half of Game 5 of the NBA Championship between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs, which was next door to the Con.
The actor was met with some cheers and disapproval sounds from the crowd attending the panel.
Christensen made it to the game, and the Spurs tweeted out a video of him holding a jersey with his name on it. “The Force is with us tonight (and so is Anakin!),” the post reads. “Hayden Christensen is in the building tonight.”
Some fans were understandably upset by Christensen’s sudden departure. The panel, which also featured Jimmy Smits and Ian McDiarmid, was an extra $100 on top of the cost to attend the convention.
Christensen Previously Spoke About the ‘Massive Impact’ of Him Being Welcomed Back Into the ‘Star Wars’ Fandom
While appearing at the 2023 SpaceCon, Christensen spoke out about the “massive impact” of his return to the Star Wars fandom.
“There was zero hesitation. I was elated to get the phone call,” he said about reprising his role as Anakin and Darth Vader in Obi-Wan Kenobi. “I was aware of the Obi-Wan project, and that Ewan [McGregor] was coming back to Star Wars, and I was so happy for him, and I wondered if there was maybe going to be an opportunity for me to come in and join him.”
He then said, “It was a great phone call to get, to come back and do more with a character that I loved so much, and that has had such a massive impact on my life. It was just a real privilege.”
Christensen also spoke about the development of his beloved character throughout the franchise.
“What was really exciting for me was that I felt like Anakin’s story had been told in the prequels,” he said. “So we had already done all that heavy lifting. And now it was kind of an opportunity to color the character with a little more nuance.”
Regarding how he approached his Sith role, Christensen shared, “As far as the headspace goes, it’s a good question, but it’s a tough one to answer because so much of it is about gut feeling and intuition.”
“I sort of feel my way through how that’s going to manifest itself,” he added. “And how I’m going to inhabit the character again.”