How Star Wars Uses Four People to Bring Darth Vader to Life!

How Star Wars Uses Four People to Bring Darth Vader to Life!
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Darth Vader made his triumphant return to the Star Wars universe on the Disney+ limited series Obi-Wan Kenobi, with Anakin Skywalker prequel actor Hayden Christensen returning to reprise the role of the fallen Jedi's alter ego. However, Christensen wasn't the only person playing Vader in the series, with the role being made up by the performances of four different individuals.

The four individuals were the above-mentioned Christensen, Dmitrious Bistrevsky, Tom O' Connell and the legendary James Earl Jones, who all worked together to recreate the role of Darth Vader, bringing to screens the most powerful and terrifying version of the character yet. But what did each do, and how did they all individually contribute in making what many consider to be the highlight of the Disney+ series?

The character of Darth Vader has a history of being played by multiple actors, which goes all the way back to the first Star Wars film in 1977. British actor and bodybuilder David Prowse was originally chosen to portray Vader due to his stature, standing 6 foot 6 inches. He portrayed all of Vader's scenes on set, voicing the character as well. However, in post-production, his voice was replaced by American stage actor, James Earl Jones, becoming one of the most iconic voices in cinematic history. Another actor was later added to the mix, in Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983), where the unmasked Vader is played by Sebastian Shaw..

It has become almost a tradition for Vader to be played by multiple people, mostly due to the combined importance of his voice and physicality. It would be very difficult for one actor to do all the things necessary to create such an imposing bad guy. And Obi-Wan Kenobi is no different. So who plays Darth Vader in the show? Well, audiences knew that Hayden Christensen would be returning to the role of Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, which he last played in 2005's Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. Yet how much Christensen would do was very much debated by fans, but now thanks to Dmitrious Bistrevsky's Instagram account, we finally have an answer.

For starters, it's clear Hayden Christensen plays Anakin in scenes where Vader is unmasked, or in flashbacks such as the training duel between a younger Anakin and Obi-Wan in Part V. The rest of Darth Vader's physical performance in the suit is made up of Christensen, Dmitrious Bistrevsky and Tom O'Connell. Bistrevsky is a Ukrainian American actor and circus performer, who in response to questions on an Instagram post said, "Hayden and I both act in the Darth Vader scenes, we bring the character and emotions." Bistrevsky goes onto say that due to standing at 6 foot 7 inches tall, the full body shots of Vader are also him.