George Lucas has made several changes to the Star Wars trilogy that often resulted in mixed reactions from fans. One of the most infamous ones was replacing the original Anakin Force Ghost from Sebastian Shaw to Hayden Christensen in Return of the Jedi.
His cameo during the Rebel Alliances’ celebration on Endor was one of the special edition alterations of the film. This change raised a lot of questions (and eyebrows) from the audience.
Star Wars Director George Lucas Explained Why He Replaced Anakin Skywalker’s Force Ghost
The 2004 DVD release of the original Star Wars trilogy featured Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker’s Force Ghost instead of Sebastian Shaw. This decision enraged fans, not to mention it was released during the time when Christensen received a lot of hate for his performance in Attack of the Clones. George Lucas explained his side via Moviefone:
“The idea was that your inner person would go back to where we left it off, when it turned to the dark side—when you got burned up and everything, but before you got burned up. So when you come back to the good side of the Force, it’s your former persona that survives, not the Darth Vader persona.”
The director believed replacing the original Anakin Force Ghost with Christensen would become instrumental in drawing a connection between the prequels and the original films. Meanwhile, Christensen reacted to his involvement in the film:
“I got a real kick out of it. I wouldn’t have otherwise had the opportunity to see myself standing next to Alec Guinness, and that was neat for me. It allowed me to be in the original trilogy as well, and I feel just more embedded in this saga, so I really liked it.”
Even though fans did not like the idea of Lucas replacing Shaw with Christensen, the actor was very happy about his cameo. While Shaw’s rendition of Anakin Skywalker held so much importance for fans who grew up with the original Star Wars trilogy, Christensen has transformed himself into the image of Anakin.
Sebastian Shaw Talked About His Role In Return of the Jedi
Sebastian Shaw portrayed Anakin Skywalker as the unmasked Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi, but before he starred in the Star Wars saga, he has proven his talent to the world as a famous stage actor. His career dates back to the 1930s.
In a 1987 interview with Starlog Magazine, Shaw shared some details about his casting as Anakin Skywalker. Interestingly, he was told little about his role:
“They didn’t, at the time, tell me what I was going to have to do, because they were being so careful. I wasn’t allowed to see that bit of the script until it was absolutely certain that I was going to play it, and that I had faithfully sworn that I wouldn’t give the secret away.”
Shaw admitted to enjoying the first two episodes of Star Wars, which only made him want to get involved in the franchise even more:
“I saw Star Wars when it was originally released, and of course, I was absolutely amazed at the brilliant techniques, which, in many ways, were revolutionary, something quite new. In spite of all my years, I’m very fascinated with the way things progress, what is new, what is young, and so on, because you can’t be an old stick-in-the-mud. So, I found a great delight in watching the Star Wars movies.”
Even though Christensen replaced Shaw as the original Anakin Force Ghost, it was not much of a big deal for the actor since he was already an established figure back then.
