Something in Common (26 & counting)

This section has grown considerably from its humble beginnings as I discover more things I have in common with Hayden. Aside from our Canadian roots [1] (six of my ancestors derive from Ontario and Quebec), cute moles [2], blond hair [3], blue eyes [4], and right-handedness [5], we were both born on a Sunday [6]. Here’s a calendar for April 1981 (Hayden’s birthday is the 19th). You’ll just have to take my word about my birthday since it’s not in the public domain and I like my privacy. Incidentally, holidays play a major role in our births [7]: Hayden was born on Easter Sunday and I was christened on Christmas Day, which also happened to be on a Sunday. Carrying this birthday theme to extremes, we each have a younger sibling who was born in December [8]; Ms. Kaylen shares her birthday with Hayden’s Higher Ground costar Joe Lando while my brother shares a name and birthdate with John Michael “Ozzy” Osbourne, who once chomped a bat at a performance in Des Moines, Iowa.

We are both musically-inclined [9]: Hayden plays piano and guitar while I play flute (he could be my accompanist!). We both moved when we were six years old (Hayden changed provinces while I swapped townships) [10]. I live on a farm and he just bought a farm in Ontario [11]. Our primary residences are in the same time zone (Eastern Time; -4 hours GMT when DST is in effect) [12]. We both have/had pets named “Buddy” [13] (my dog, his pot-bellied pig).

Hayden is reportedly allergic to bee stings, whereas my own allergy is much more mysterious [14]. I break out in pink rashes all over my body — they come and go — sometimes they itch. A skin test was inconclusive. Luckily, this condition has markedly improved with the use of pharmaceuticals. I sincerely hope this doesn’t embarass him, but I noticed that, like me, he has hairy arms [15] — however, our arm hair is so light in color that it’s difficult to detect (um, do you ever get the impression that I’m looking for uncommon commonalities?). Anyway, I caught that little detail in a scene from Life As A House.

Bad knee sprains are a fairly common occurrence, so let’s try a seldom-used subcategory: Bad Knee Sprains Incurred During a Choreographed Athletic Movement While In Pursuit of a Fine Arts Performance [16]. Serious fans know about Hayden’s nasty knee sprain while doing stunt work for Sith (bizarrely, I was approached to do stunt work while visiting a television production). However, the media wasn’t alerted to my injury, sustained in college while learning “The Kickstep” during marching band preseason — an injury that keeps on giving, if you know what I mean. Continuing in this quasi-athletic vein, Hayden attained notoriety as a ball boy at a Canadian Open while I was a lowly bat girl for my brother’s baseball team [17]. Thankfully, I was not that kid who nearly got the snot beat out of him by tennis pro John McEnroe for interrupting said tennis pro’s shot! Egad, and I remember seeing that when it was broadcast on national television. How does someone live down a gaffe like that? Oh yeah, you become the dark lord, Darth Vader.

My recent involvement in background acting for film/TV has resulted in more things we have in common: Hayden wore light blue hospital scrubs in Awake while I wore light blue hospital scrubs in the TNT movie Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story [18], and if you want to play the new “Six Degrees of Hayden Christensen” trivia game, we both worked with Second Assistant Director Danny Green. Hayden on Factory Girl, me on Gifted Hands. [19] That’s a cool Hayden factor of 2, people! Using a strictly actor connection, my Hayden number is 3: Me [3] in Gifted Hands with Kimberly Elise [2] who was in Pride with Terrence Howard [1] who was in Awake with Hayden [0].

Serious fans know about Hayden’s nasty knee sprain while doing stunt work for Sith (bizarrely, I was approached to do stunt work while visiting a television production). However, the media wasn’t alerted to my injury, sustained in college while learning “The Kickstep” during marching band preseason — an injury that keeps on giving, if you know what I mean. Continuing in this quasi-athletic vein, Hayden attained notoriety as a ball boy at a Canadian Open while I was a lowly bat girl for my brother’s baseball team [20]. Thankfully, I was not that kid who nearly got the snot beat out of him by tennis pro John McEnroe for interrupting said tennis pro’s shot! Egad, and I remember seeing that when it was broadcast on national television. How does someone live down a gaffe like that? Oh yeah, you become the dark lord, Darth Vader.

What else? Neither of us is enamored with Los Angeles/Hollywood [21]. We have both talked face-to-face with actor Joe Lando [22]. For you trivia fans, Joe Lando’s son Christian, born in 2001, is named in honor of Hayden. Here’s what Joe had to say about it during an online chat:

Actually, we liked the name Hayden because I worked with Hayden Christensen on HG and […] we were on a road trip, the northern BC trip that we took. And we were looking at his name in an article and, as we were reading, all of a sudden I just asked about Christian, would [Joe’s wife Kirsten] consider Christian instead of Hayden, you know, Christensen, Christian, “How about that?” And that’s how it kind of came around….

Speaking of names… our first and last names have the same number of syllables—five—[23] (Hay-den Chris-ten-sen vs. Ka-thy Bo-ven-schen) and our first and last names both end in “-en” [24] (I was christened Kathleen). Also, one of Hayden’s stand-ins for Jumper was a guy named Jay Melnychuk; Melniczuk (pronounced Mel-neh-chook) was my Russian great grandfather’s surname. [25]

I’m okay, you’re okay — in small doses
While we have both been categorized as shy [26], it is more likely that we are actually introverts, a largely misunderstood group of people who derive their energy from an internal world of emotions and ideas. According to a November 2005 USA TODAY article, introverts are “energized by retrieving long-term memories, problem solving, introspection, complex thinking and planning.” Introverts find their energy sapped by being around other people and need to get away to recharge their batteries. Fellow introvert Jonathan Rauch, in his amusing essay, “Caring for Your Introvert,” posits that “many actors are introverts … and many introverts, when socializing, feel like actors.” Yup. Nearly everything I’ve read about Hayden and the way acquaintances describe him — as well as my own observations of his demeanor — suggests he is an introvert, but he would have to take the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI) or similar assessment test to confirm my suspicions (disclaimer: I have no expertise in this area although I work with people who do). As for this ISTJ, give me a good book and an iPod and I’m happy as a clam. Mmmm, and maybe a bag of Crunchy Cheddar Cheetos®. Or… Hayden & I could always share a nice hot cup of tea! [26]  [16 Nov 2005]

 

Raiding Padmé’s Closet

Mind if I stray off-topic and talk about Star Wars fashion? Wait a minute. I don’t need anyone’s permission. This is my website after all. I just got my copy of Trisha Biggar’s fantabulous book, Dressing a Galaxy: The Costumes of Star Wars, hot off the presses. One reason I love period films is the awesome costumes. Ms. Biggar was the costume designer for all three Star Wars prequels (and had a bit part in Phantom Menace). I loved how she pulled together costume details from various cultures and periods to create something wonderfully fresh, not to mention breathtaking. If she doesn’t win an Academy Award® for Costume Design for Revenge of the Sith, then there is no justice in the world!

Few things besides Hayden turn this girl’s head, but I make an exception for gorgeous clothing. If Trish B. allowed me to run amuck in the Star Wars costume department’s closet, I’d be one deliriously happy girl. If she said, “Hon, pick one, any one, and it’s yours to keep,” I’d have a very tough time of it. It’s like asking a mother to choose her favorite child. Still, if I was forced to narrow it down to only one, I’d pick a lavish ensemble that didn’t appear in any of the films. That’s right. My fave outfit appeared in a scene which George Lucas — that cruel-hearted man — left on the cutting room floor! I’m talking about this pièce de résistance (see DAG book, pages 180-181) 

You can see it in one of the deleted scenes — Padmé Amidala brings boyfriend bodyguard Anakin Skywalker home to meet her parents on Naboo — which appears on the Attack of the Clones DVD. The devoréd cream and blue panne velvet cloak is to die for! There is also a two-piece midriff-baring outfit underneath that surely turned Anakin’s head.

My runner-up in this category would be the peacock and brown ensemble (pp. 110-111) which Padmé wore in ROTS. Another stunner. And, yes, it also appeared in a deleted scene. 

As for sleepwear, I would mix and match: Padmé’s slinky steel blue silk nightgown with pearl-adorned straps from ROTS (pp. 192-193) paired with the hand-smocked blue panne velvet robe she wore in ATOC (pp. 172-173). Both pieces appeared in scenes where she talked to Anakin about his nightmares. Oh, I forgot, Jedi don’t have nightmares.

All Grown Up… Almost

The one thing that has absolutely freaked me out about Hayden is how much his physical appearance has changed in the span of time I’ve been exposed to his work (a brief five years). One might expect such an evolution from someone like a Madonna, whose chameleon characteristics are part of a carefully orchestrated persona. Nor would it be shocking for a child of 12 or so, but Hayden was 18 to 19 when he filmed Higher Ground and 19 to 20 during Attack of the Clones. I dunno. Perhaps it had something to do with the characters he played at that time: whiney, insolent brats.

Maybe I’m the only one who thinks this way, but when I compare the Hayden of 2000 with what he looks like now, I see two different people. The difference is especially striking between the two Star Wars films, although the transitional phase can be glimpsed by way of Shattered Glass. His hair color darkened, his voice deepened considerably, and he lost the babyish quality in his face (while still retaining that all-important yowza factor). To clarify, I’m talking about everything from the neck up. Hayden still has some physical maturing ahead of him, although one possible outcome was evidenced in Revenge of the Sith, where George Lucas had him put on 25 pounds (~11 kg) and work out to develop a latent muscular frame. Normally, I’m not one to drool over a buff bod, but the physical alterations in this instance were… uh, how do I say this… exceedingly fine [heavy sigh]. Needless to say, I’ll chip in toward a personal trainer if Hayden is amenable to that. [26 Oct 2005]

THEN	NOW