Let’s face it: when Anakin Skywalker went to the dark side, he really went to the dark side. After “I have the high ground”, there was perhaps no more iconic scene in Revenge of the Sith than Anakin encountering younglings in the Jedi Temple. After asking what they’re going to do, one particular youngling recoils in horror as Anakin ignites his lightsaber. The rest is murderous, off-screen history. Some fifteen years or so later, Hayden Christensen finally reunited with the Star Wars actor playing that youngling.
Revenge of the Sith was a hard PG-13 when Lucasfilm released the conclusion of the prequel trilogy in 2005. It earned that rating due in part to the gruesome scene in which Anakin Skywalker burns alive. The rating was also due in part to the implied murder of children. (Can you imagine if they actually showed the scene on camera?) Actor Ross Beadman played the youngling unfortunate enough to encounter Anakin first. Beadman met up with Hayden Christensen at a recent Comic Con in London.
Hayden Christensen reunites with Ross Beadman in London
The folks over at Fantha Tracks captured the moment of the meeting with some great photos of the two actors. In the interview video above, Beadman talks about his experience filming Revenge of the Sith and his time acting with Hayden Christensen on set. It’s hard to image how a six-year old, even though acting, would feel filming such a scene. Still, his reaction to Anakin lighting his weapon was spot on and exceptional acting for a child of such a young age.
Beadman described his scene with Hayden Christensen as necessary for Anakin’s character progression: “[i]t shows the fact that Anakin can’t go back from this….that’s why they kept it in.”
There’s no official word on whether or not Hayden Christensen apologized for brutally murdering Beadman. Thankfully the youngling, er, young actor seems to have recovered and adjusted nicely, regardless.
Source: Fantha Tracks
