INTERVIEW: Rachel Bilson & Hayden Christensen

Although it’s bad form to do so, it’s hard not to have preconceptions about some people. In 2002, when Attack of the Clones was revealed to be even worse than the Phantom Menace, much of the blame and fanboy vitriol was aimed squarely at its young star Hayden Christensen.

As a lifelong Star Wars fan it was difficult to banish these thoughts when meeting him. Surely he’d be the same whiney, wooden adolescent he appeared to be in George Lucas’ much-maligned prequels. “I killed them. I killed them all. They’re dead, every single one of them. And not just the men, but the women and the children, too. They’re like animals, and I slaughtered them like animals. I HATE THEM!” Er…. okay then.

The thing is – it turns out that he’s actually a pretty decent guy. Shit. Years after Star Wars, and now starring in Jumper, does he think that he’ll ever be able to escape the legacy of being Anakin?

“I think that’s something that will follow me for the rest of my life,” he says. “There will always be people waiting out the front of hotels with Star Wars pictures. But [director of Jumper] Doug Liman didn’t cast me off the back of Star Wars. He was more interested in Shattered Glass. He spoke to me about certain aspects of my performance in that he was interested in.”

Jumper is the story of a young man who discovers he possesses the ability to instantly teleport anywhere in the world. Once filming started, Christensen found himself hooked by the idea of teleportation, and his remaining enthusiasm is clear to see.

“I spent a lot of time thinking about it and got really interested in it,” he says, becoming visibly animated. “I actually got to sit on a panel with two professors who are experts in quantum teleportation, which is a form of teleportation that actually exists. They’ve managed to teleport a photon of light, which I think is pretty amazing.”

Co-star Rachel Bilson is also blessed/cursed with being widely known as another character – having starred as Summer in the massively popular The OC.

She explains: “The TV series brought me everything so far, which is amazing and I’m so grateful for it, but when you’re known for a TV series people think that they know you because they know you as that character. It’s important to break away from that as much as possible and go against the obvious typecast roles.”

Appearing as a barmaid who is unwittingly dragged into an action-packed world filled with bad guys armed with futuristic high-voltage cattle prods, is quite a leap from her previous role as a glamorous teenager in a much-loved series. Was the physical side of her role in Jumper difficult?

“I didn’t get too badly damaged,” she says. “I got the occasional scratch and bruise, but I felt quite proud of them.”

Unfortunately, Hayden wasn’t so lucky. “My character takes a beating so I got knocked about quite a bit, but I didn’t mind it. I enjoy the physicalilty of acting. I got a nice scar across my hand, I split my ear open, and I knocked my head really badly so that my pupil got stuck in this extremely dilated position which was really disturbing because I couldn’t see. We kept a list of injuries sustained and it got pretty long by the end of the movie.”

Part of Jumper’s appeal is down to the strong supporting cast, which includes Jamie Bell, Diane Lane, and the coolest mofo on the planet, Samuel L. Jackson. C’mon, is he really that bad ass?

“He is!,” says Rachel. “My first scene with him was him slamming me up against the wall, and I had to pinch myself to check it was real.”

Hayden chips in: “Absolutely. He is legitimately cool. It’s not an act. He’s the real deal.”

As with any big-budget film these days, the ending to Jumper leaves it open for a sequel. Do either of the stars know anything about that?

“I don’t know too much about it, but I’m very open to it,” says Hayden. “I’d love to do it actually. I think there is a lot of fun to be had with the concept of teleportation. Doug says he already has the next four stories planned out in his head, so we’ll see.”