The Skywalker Legacy of De-Ageing, Explained

Warning: spoilers ahead for all five episodes of Ahsoka.

In what’s being touted as some of the best Star Wars television ever made, episode 5 of Ahsoka saw Ahsoka come face to face with her old master, Anakin Skywalker. Hayden Christensen first stepped into the role of Anakin in 2002’s Attack of the Clones, 21 years before. Then he was aged 21 years old, but today, he’s 42.

Christensen has already reprised the role of Anakin on the small screen, playing the younger version of himself in Obi-Wan Kenobi. Acting opposite Ewan McGregor as Anakin in his Padawan years, this jump even further back in the timeline than his appearance in Ahsoka was achieved with the aid of digital de-ageing using CGI. But how was it approached for Ahsoka? Here’s what you need to know.

Star Wars’ favourite party trick

The non-linear chronology of Star Wars means that this isn’t the first time that an actor has had to be de-aged to appear in a show. A likeness of a young Carrie Fisher/Princess Leia appeared in Rogue One, blending the movie smoothly into the beginning of A New Hope. This was achieved by superimposing Fisher’s likeness over actress Ingvild Deila to complete the Princess Leia effect, in a controversial move among fans, especially as Fisher died just 11 days after the film was released.

Similarly, a younger version of Mark Hamill in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett was achieved using deepfake methods. Rather than use CGI, The Mandalorian used extensive machine learning from the enormous amount of images that Disney and Lucasfilm had collected of Hamill during the original Star Wars trilogy movies and interviews with the actor. As a result, they had realistic expressions, gestures, and lighting effects from Hamill’s post-Return of the Jedi age. The team then used AI to superimpose the corresponding expressions over the scene’s physical performer, Max Lloyd-Jones, for the final effect of a young Luke Skywalker.

Now coming to Hayden Christensen in Ahsoka, naturally some level of de-ageing was needed, with Anakin supposed to be around 19 years old during the Clone Wars, rather than 42. In fact, Ahsoka even comments that he “looks the same” during the episode, cementing the need for some digital magic.

Unlike the examples of Luke and Leia above, Christensen was physically on set and acting. Considering the scene was so physical, with Ahsoka and Anakin fighting and running around in a warzone. With that in mind, it seems that minor CGI enhancements were used to augment practical effects and make-up. That leaves Anakin’s central portrayal as a physical one, with selective use of digital effects.

Naturally, the interconnected shots of Anakin warping into Darth Vader, along with distorted voice effects, was also the result of post-production, but the Vader-like mannerisms and aggressive walk was all Christensen. The use of this physical base certainly worked its wonders, with elements of Clone Wars-era Anakin, original trilogy Vader, and Force Ghost Anakin shining through in the appropriate moments.

(featured image: Disney+)

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