Funny, He's Darth Vader, but It's Us Breathing Heavy

"When it happened, for a while I wouldn't leave the house. I mean, since my face was in every convenience store, that meant everyone would recognize me and that's really odd. So I just sort of hermitized for a little while."

Young, beautiful, rich and famous and you didn't leave the house?

"Well, I'm not talking like I locked myself in a room and wouldn't speak to anyone, but I laid low in Toronto."

In between filming "Star Wars" Episodes II and III, he set out to make "Shattered Glass," about disgraced New Republic writer Stephen Glass, after reading about the scandal in Vanity Fair. It was the first film produced by Forest Park Pictures, the L.A.-based production company Christensen runs with older brother Tove.

Christensen says he doesn't spend much time in Los Angeles. We learn that he, too, has a theory -- on celebrity.

"I think that people's exposure is in your realm of control. It's largely just a function of your choices, and if you don't want to be seen, they don't see you."

He pauses.

"I think I do an okay job of proving my theory. Sure, fame has its affectation, but you can still lead the life you want to lead. I've never had that fame motivation. The less people know about me, the better my work will be, because the more they know about me, then I'm less believable as a character."

Christensen contrasts his experience acting in "Jumper," directed by Doug Liman, with his experiences on the two "Star Wars" directed by George Lucas, movies in which even fans found him a tad, well, wooden.

"Doug . . . really wanted the actors' insight into the story, asking us to script meetings, which was a treat, you know, how collaborative he was. It was really satisfying."

And Lucas?

"George came up to me on the set one day during my first 'Star Wars' and said something that I never fully understood until after we were done filming. He said, 'As an actor, you have to think of yourself as a ditch digger.' . . . What he was implying was that on his movie, I needed to think of myself as a ditch digger, because it wasn't the proper arena for actual creative expression. This was his thing. It was all very thought-out in his head, and I needed to show up to make his wants a reality. And so really, what he was saying to me, was: 'Don't let this experience discourage you from what acting can really be about, because that's not what this is.' I just wish I would've figured that out a little sooner."