Obi-Wan Kenobi star Hayden Christensen recalls how he created the Wattanese language that Anakin Skywalker uses in Star Wars: Episode II in one night.
Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones star Hayden Christensen has revealed how the Wattanese language, first spoken in the 2002 film, was developed.
The actor recalled the development process after being asked which scene from the prequels he was most proud of by The Hollywood Reporter. “I don’t know that I have a scene that I was most proud of, but there’s a scene where Anakin goes back to Tatooine in Episode II [Attack of the Clones] and speaks to Watto. The script had the dialogue written in English and then, in parentheses, it said: ‘in Wattanese.’ It wasn’t until the day before we started filming that I went to George, and I was like, ‘What should Wattanese sound like?’ And he was like, ‘Well, you know, so long as it doesn’t sound like English or any other language that might sound familiar. You can just make it up,” Christensen said, laughing at the memory. “So, I was rushing the night before to try to figure out how to make up Wattanese, and every time I see that scene, I get a bit of a kick out of it.”
Christensen starred as Anakin Skywalker in the second and third episodes of the Star Wars prequel trilogy, which were released to theaters in 2002 and 2005, respectively. The actor recently reflected on his performance in the prequels, which was as initially met with backlash from Star Wars fans. “I think it just goes back to the sort of ownership that people feel towards these characters,” he said in May 2022. “It’s almost like public domain. These characters really do belong to everybody. I guess the impression that I got from [Star Wars creator] George Lucas was that if they don’t like them, then they don’t ‘get’ it — and that was good enough for me.”
Obi-Wan Kenobi, which is set a decade after the events of Revenge of the Sith, marks Christensen’s first time returning to Star Wars beyond uncredited voice work. The series allowed the actor to fully portray Anakin Skywalker’s villainous alter ego Darth Vader, after only getting to briefly play that side of the character in the closing moments of Revenge of the Sith. “It just seemed like a really exciting opportunity,” said Christensen, who added that he was excited to be asked back to the galaxy far, far away.
The series also reunites Christensen with his prequels co-star Ewan McGregor, who reprises his role as the titular Jedi Master. The first four episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi are now streaming on Disney+ with new episodes arriving every Wednesday until June 22.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter