Hayden Christensen, costume designer Trisha Biggar and animation director Rob Coleman look back on Attack of the Clones

On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Star Wars; Episode II – Attack of the Clones, StarWars.com has published new interviews with Hayden Christensen and several crew members where they look back on the movie. Check them out:

• Anakin Skywalker actor Hayden Christensen
• Costume designer Trisha Biggar
• Animation director Rob Coleman
• Concept artist Roel Robles

Here are some interesting quotes:

Christensen: “For me, trying to develop the character of Anakin, there was a lot that I could draw from. There was a lot of source material. I was playing a part that was already played before me, as well as after me. This was a character that had a family, children that had grown up. You had all of these elements, and where he was in his life and what that life was, and how all that would have affected him. There were a lot of elements that needed to cohere. And for me, one of the aspects of Star Wars that I found really compelling was the generational aspect of it. I really wanted that to feel authentic and have as much continuity as possible. I was very cognizant of the performance that Jake Lloyd gave [in Episode I], and wanting it to feel like it really was just an older version of that kid, to some of the nuances and mannerisms of Darth Vader, wanting that transition to have some context as well, and to his children, Luke and Leia, and for that lineage to feel convincing. So I had a lot that I was drawing from, and then of course, everything he’s going through in the story.”

Christensen: “It’s like [the Prequels] had a gestation period, where they needed a little time to ferment in the public psyche. The reception that the films have now, it’s very heartwarming.”  

Biggar: “The colors changed, definitely, and some characters did darken, particularly Anakin. We put leather tabs on him as sort of a forward reflection of the leather that we would see him in later [as Darth Vader]. It’s such a difficult part, too, to play having to show both sides.”

Biggar: “I took the feel of [their costumes in A New Hope] — Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen — and tried to make it useful, but also tried to link it into Tatooine as we were seeing it in the earlier part of time. Just take it back to give their young versions something that was similar. Oftentimes, in personal style, you take what you enjoy when you’re young or what you think you look good in, and you often take it forward into when you get older. You still wear a variation on that.”

Coleman (when George Lucas still wanted Yoda to be a puppet in the non-fighting scenes ): “I thought, ‘I don’t want to be matching to the puppet. I adored the puppet in Empire when I was 16 years old. I mean, I was an audience member watching that thing and absolutely believed in that character. But when it came time to do Attack of the Clones, I felt that it would be really, really difficult, because we would have to match what they did with the puppet and interpret how that puppet movement would be put into a digital character running around. George did say early on in briefing us that we’d see him full-body, he’d have to run and jump and fight. So I did know that, but I thought after learning what we learned on Watto, Jar Jar, and Sebulba [in Episode I], I felt we could take on Yoda.”

Coleman: “One of the things I did to pitch the digital Yoda was to do three talking shots and three non-talking shots. It was, ‘Could we sustain that he was alive and thinking and reacting? Could we earn a closeup in Attack of the Clones?’ And we did. You see it early in the movie when the Jedi are in Palpatine’s office, surrounded by a bunch of people. Palpatine is saying something, and George, on purpose, cuts to Yoda, and you see Yoda look over his shoulder. And you can tell that he doesn’t trust Palpatine. I actually get goosebumps thinking about it. ‘Cause that was — if I could get us over that high bar, a self-imposed high bar, that meant that we could hold our own. And then because we delivered on that, George gave us more and more and more important acting moments.”

Coleman: “It turns out poor [Dexter Jettster actor Ron Falk] had a sciatic problem down one of his legs, so he had a bit of a limp. He was apologizing for it, and I was like, ‘No, no, no, this is fantastic. This gives your character all kinds of history. This is great.” So when you see animated Dexter come out from behind the counter and he’s limping, I was just following what Ron did.”

And there’s also an interesting article: “4 Ways Star Wars: Attack of the Clones Helped Change Filmmaking“