To be sure, his emotional outbursts in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith are incredibly difficult to watch. Because of this, we tend to conflate Christensen's Anakin Skywalker with Lloyd's Anakin Skywalker, hence the accusation of 'whininess' that plagues Christensen's representation as well as Lloyd's.Īnd, yes: like that iconic Mean Girls character, Anakin Skywalker just has a lot of feelings. And a little bit irritating, sure, but have you met a nine-year-old who isn't? Plus, his interactions with Portman's Padmé Amidala seem weird in retrospect mostly because our brains are trying to grapple with the Hollywood Time Dilation Theory of aging, which states that female characters age much more slowly than male characters do – Anakin ages 10 years in between The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones (nine-year-old Jake Lloyd becomes 19-year-old Hayden Christensen), while Padmé ostensibly only ages two years (17-year-old Natalie Portman becomes 19-year-old Natalie Portman). That blonde little mophead was goddamn adorable. To begin with, I've never really understood what the big deal is with Jake Lloyd's performance as young Anakin in The Phantom Menace.

Allow me to channel Natalie Portman and say something nice about the muthafuckin' prequels.

Anakin skywalker vs kylo ren