For anyone who remembers Hayden Christensen at the height of Star Wars mania, the latest photographs may produce a strange feeling.
More than two decades have passed since the young Canadian actor became one of the most recognizable faces in Hollywood as Anakin Skywalker.
He was only 19 when George Lucas chose him for the role that would change his life.
Suddenly, Christensen wasn’t simply an up-and-coming actor. He was the man destined to become Darth Vader.
His face appeared on movie posters around the world. His romance with Natalie Portman’s Padmé Amidala became central to the Star Wars prequel trilogy. And millions of people had opinions about practically everything he did.
Then, at precisely the point when Hollywood expected him to capitalize on that fame, Christensen largely stepped away.
Now 45, he has gradually returned to Star Wars — and on September 19, 2026, he did something even rarer.
He walked a red carpet holding hands with his 11-year-old daughter, Briar Rose Christensen, whom he shares with actress Rachel Bilson.
It was Briar’s first red-carpet appearance.
And for fans who remembered her parents as one of the most private celebrity couples of the 2000s, seeing their little girl suddenly grown up was quite a moment. (EW.com)
Hayden was only 19 when George Lucas changed his life
Before Anakin Skywalker, Christensen was hardly a household name.
He had acted as a child and teenager, appearing in projects including Higher Ground and Life as a House.
Then George Lucas began searching for the young man who would play Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones.
It was an enormous casting decision.
Audiences already knew what Anakin would become.
Darth Vader.
What they didn’t know was the face beneath the mask.
Lucas chose Christensen.
When Attack of the Clones arrived in 2002, Hayden was 21 and suddenly at the center of one of the world’s largest entertainment franchises.
Overnight, he became a heartthrob
Christensen’s appearance was almost tailor-made for early-2000s celebrity culture.
Blue eyes.
Tousled hair.
Sharp features.
And the slightly brooding quality required of a character slowly moving toward the dark side.
By Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith in 2005, his Anakin looked dramatically different.
His hair was longer.
His demeanor was darker.
And the movie finally completed the transformation audiences had known was coming.
Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader.
For Hayden, however, the experience of becoming enormously famous was complicated.
The Star Wars prequels made huge amounts of money, but they also received intense criticism at the time, and Christensen’s performance became a particular target for some reviewers and fans.
Years later, the reception would change dramatically.
But Hayden wasn’t going to wait around Hollywood for that to happen.
He began disappearing from the celebrity machine
Christensen continued acting after Star Wars.
He starred in Factory Girl, Awake and Jumper.
But his career never followed the conventional trajectory expected of a newly minted Hollywood heartthrob.
He became increasingly private.
In fact, the description of Christensen as somewhat “off the grid” became part of his public image. When he and Rachel Bilson eventually separated in 2017, a source described their lifestyles as very different, characterizing Bilson as social and Christensen as considerably more reclusive. (E! Online)
Christensen also spent significant time on a farm in Canada.
The actor who could theoretically have chased blockbuster after blockbuster appeared much less interested in remaining constantly visible.
And during the filming of Jumper, something else happened that would become far more important to his personal life.
He met Rachel Bilson.
Rachel Bilson became his partner for nearly a decade
Bilson was already famous herself.
She had become one of the defining young television stars of the 2000s playing Summer Roberts on The O.C.
Then she and Hayden were cast together in the 2008 sci-fi action film Jumper.
Their onscreen relationship turned into a real one.
The pair became engaged in 2009.
There was a brief breakup in 2010, followed by a reconciliation.
And unlike many famous couples of that era, they kept much of their relationship away from public view.
Then, in October 2014, they became parents.
Their daughter received an appropriately cinematic name.
Briar Rose.
Her name came from a Disney princess
Briar Rose is the name used for Princess Aurora while she’s hidden away in Disney’s Sleeping Beauty.
Bilson later explained that both she and Christensen loved Disney, making the name particularly meaningful.
But if fans expected the couple’s daughter to become another regularly photographed Hollywood child, her parents had other ideas.
They kept Briar remarkably private.
Photographs existed, particularly when paparazzi spotted the family in public, but Hayden and Rachel did not turn their daughter into part of their celebrity brands.
The few childhood photographs that did emerge showed Hayden carrying her through airports, farmers markets and family outings.
Then her parents separated.
Hayden and Rachel split when Briar was still very young
Christensen and Bilson ended their relationship in 2017 after nearly a decade together.
Briar was only three.
Yet the breakup didn’t turn into a prolonged public custody battle.
Instead, both parents concentrated on co-parenting.
Years later, Bilson publicly described their arrangement positively.
During the pandemic, she specifically praised Christensen for taking COVID precautions seriously and said she was grateful Briar could spend time at his home.
More recently, Bilson has continued describing their co-parenting relationship as cooperative and focused on their daughter. (Page Six)
That made Briar’s latest appearance with her father particularly sweet.
She isn’t merely the daughter of two celebrities.
She’s the person who has kept them connected long after their romantic relationship ended.
Fatherhood changed Hayden’s priorities
Christensen has acknowledged that becoming Briar’s father affected how much he wanted to work.
He scaled back acting in part because he wanted to be present for his daughter.
For an actor who had already experienced extraordinary fame at a young age, there wasn’t the same urgency to chase another massive franchise.
He had something else occupying his attention.
That doesn’t mean Christensen vanished entirely.
But for years, sightings of him became unusual enough to generate headlines.
Then something unexpected happened.
A generation that had grown up with the Star Wars prequels became adults.
And they wanted Anakin Skywalker back.
The world eventually changed its mind about Hayden Christensen
The reception Christensen received in the early 2000s was often harsh.
But nostalgia has been remarkably kind to the prequel trilogy.
Children who loved those films grew up.
Internet culture turned countless Anakin moments into memes.
Animated series such as The Clone Wars expanded the character dramatically.
And suddenly Christensen wasn’t being treated like the actor who had supposedly disappointed Star Wars fans.
He was being welcomed as their Anakin.
When Disney announced that he would return opposite Ewan McGregor in Obi-Wan Kenobi, the reaction was enormous.
Christensen put the Darth Vader suit back on.
Nearly 20 years after Revenge of the Sith, Anakin Skywalker was back.
He later returned again in Ahsoka.
This time, the response was strikingly different from the criticism he’d experienced as a young actor.
Fans celebrated him.
Crowds gave him emotional ovations at conventions.
And Christensen himself appeared genuinely moved by the affection.
Then, in September 2026, his Star Wars past created an opportunity to share something special with Briar.
September 19, 2026: Briar finally walked the red carpet
The occasion couldn’t have been more fitting.
George Lucas and Mellody Hobson were celebrating the opening of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles.
The gala attracted an extraordinary collection of stars.
Harrison Ford.
Mark Hamill.
Steven Spielberg.
Oprah Winfrey.
Leonardo DiCaprio.
Al Pacino.
Katy Perry.
And among them was the actor George Lucas had selected to become Anakin Skywalker more than 25 years earlier.
Hayden didn’t arrive alone.
He brought Briar.
The 11-year-old walked beside her father in a white embroidered sundress and brown flats.
Hayden dressed much more casually, wearing jeans, a gray shirt and dark jacket.
Then they held hands and posed for photographers.
It was Briar’s first-ever red carpet. (People.com)
Hayden couldn’t hide how proud he was
For someone who has spent years guarding his daughter’s privacy, Christensen clearly understood the significance of bringing her.
“This is really special for me,” he told E! News at the event, explaining that sharing the experience with Briar was a treat. (E! Online)
And Briar had her own opinion about her father’s famous alter ego.
Seeing Dad as Darth Vader?
She called it “really cool.” (E! Online)
It’s an adorable inversion of Hayden’s career.
Millions of children grew up intimidated by Darth Vader.
Briar grew up knowing him as Dad.
And fans immediately noticed Rachel Bilson in her
The resemblance inevitably became part of the reaction.
Briar has her father’s coloring in certain photographs, but viewers also noticed features reminiscent of Rachel — particularly her dark eyes and brunette hair.
Several outlets covering the appearance specifically remarked on her resemblance to her famous mother. (rtl.de)
Of course, at 11, Briar is still a child whose appearance will continue changing enormously.
But seeing her beside Hayden naturally brought memories of the couple’s relationship rushing back.
For anyone who watched The O.C., Jumper and the Star Wars prequels during the 2000s, it was an unexpectedly nostalgic image.
Anakin Skywalker and Summer Roberts have an 11-year-old daughter.
And somehow, enough time has passed that she’s now walking red carpets.
It wasn’t technically their first public outing together
Although this was Briar’s first red-carpet appearance, she had previously been seen publicly with Hayden.
In August 2025, father and daughter attended a Chicago Cubs game together.
The appearance was unusual enough to attract attention because Christensen so rarely brings Briar into celebrity settings. (People.com)
But the Lucas Museum event was different.
This time, there was no hiding from cameras.
They deliberately posed together.
And Briar even participated in interviews beside her father.
For a family that has spent 11 years largely protecting her from the spotlight, it represented a significant first.
Hayden himself looks different from the young Anakin fans remember
There’s also something striking about seeing Christensen today.
He’s 45.
His face has matured.
His hair is different.
And more than two decades have passed since he wore Anakin’s Padawan braid in Attack of the Clones.
Yet compared with many former 2000s heartthrobs, Christensen remains immediately recognizable.
The blue eyes are unmistakable.
So is the slightly shy smile.
What’s changed most dramatically is his relationship with the fame surrounding him.
At 21, he seemed to be swallowed by it.
At 45, he appears far more comfortable deciding when — and how — to step into it.
George Lucas was responsible for bringing Hayden into this world in the first place
That makes the location of Briar’s debut especially meaningful.
George Lucas didn’t simply direct Christensen in a movie.
He selected a largely unknown young actor to play one of cinema’s most important characters.
That decision permanently altered Hayden’s life.
And more than two decades later, Hayden arrived at a museum created by Lucas with his own daughter holding his hand.
The symbolism is hard to miss.
Briar wasn’t accompanying her father to a random premiere.
She was entering a space celebrating the storyteller whose decision helped make her father famous.
And Hayden clearly understood that connection.
He stepped away when Hollywood expected him to chase fame
There’s a tendency to frame Christensen’s quieter years as though Hollywood simply stopped calling.
The reality is more nuanced.
Yes, the prequel backlash affected his public image.
Yes, some of his post-Star Wars movies underperformed.
But Christensen also made deliberate choices to live more privately.
He purchased farmland in Canada.
He took fewer roles.
Later, fatherhood became another reason to scale back.
The result was unusual.
One of the most recognizable young actors of the early 2000s essentially refused to spend the following decade desperately trying to remain famous.
And eventually, the role that had created so much pressure brought him back on his own terms.
Rachel has also protected Briar’s privacy
Bilson has occasionally talked about motherhood, but she has been careful about how much of her daughter’s life becomes public.
Even after separating from Christensen, both parents largely maintained that boundary.
That’s why the September photographs feel different from ordinary celebrity-family pictures.
Fans have known Briar existed since 2014.
They’ve seen occasional paparazzi images.
But they haven’t watched her grow up through a constant stream of staged appearances.
Suddenly, at 11, she appeared beside her father looking very much like a kid rather than a carefully styled celebrity offspring.
She wore a simple white dress.
She held Dad’s hand.
And she smiled.
The photograph captures two different versions of Hayden Christensen at once
Look at the newest picture beside one from 2002.
The young man in the first photograph had no idea what Star Wars fame was about to become.
He would be celebrated.
Mocked.
Scrutinized.
Turned into a heartthrob.
Then largely disappear from Hollywood’s center.
He would fall in love with Rachel Bilson.
Become a father.
Separate from Rachel.
Spend years raising their daughter privately.
Then return to Anakin Skywalker and discover that an entire generation of fans had been waiting to welcome him back.
And now that daughter is standing beside him at a celebration of George Lucas.
That’s quite a journey for one before-and-after photograph.
At 45, Hayden seems to have found a different relationship with fame
He never became the conventional movie star people predicted after Attack of the Clones.
Perhaps that’s precisely the point.
Christensen stepped away when he wanted distance.
He returned when the opportunity felt right.
And he’s managed to keep one of the most important parts of his life — Briar — largely separate from the machinery that once overwhelmed his own.
So when father and daughter finally appeared together on September 19, there was something unexpectedly fitting about Hayden’s expression.
He wasn’t the 21-year-old actor standing nervously in front of cameras while the world decided what it thought of Anakin Skywalker.
He was a 45-year-old dad holding his daughter’s hand.
And after years of keeping that part of his world private, he finally seemed ready to let fans see it. (EW.com)
For more fascinating stories about celebrities navigating the public eye, check out how Wentworth Miller became a ’00s TV heartthrob overnight, or read about Lionel Richie’s recent reappearance after a hospital stay. You might also be interested in Cindy Crawford’s son Presley Gerber’s life in photos and the complicated story behind it.
