Hayden Christensen

Christensen in 2010, image via Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com

Place of Birth: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Date of Birth: April 19, 1981

Ethnicity: Danish, Swedish, one quarter Italian

Hayden Christensen is a Canadian actor and producer. He is known for playing Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars franchise, beginning with Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones; and for his roles in the films The Virgin Suicides, Life as a House, Shattered Glass, Factory Girl, Awake, Virgin Territory, Jumper, New York, I Love You, Takers, Vanishing on 7th Street, Outcast, American Heist, 90 Minutes in Heaven, First Kill, and Little Italy, and on television’s Higher Ground, Goosebumps, and Are You Afraid of the Dark?

Hayden is the son of Ali, a speechwriter, and David Christensen, a computer programmer and communications executive. His father has Danish ancestry. His mother has Swedish and Italian, including Sicilian, ancestry, with family in the U.S. His brother, Tove Christensen, is also an actor and producer, and his sisters Hejsa and Kaylen have also acted. Hayden has a daughter with his former partner, actress Rachel Bilson.

Hayden’s maternal grandfather is named Kenneth E. Nelson (the son of Sven Nelson and Nicoline “Nina”). Kenneth was born in New Jersey, to Swedish immigrants.

Hayden’s maternal grandmother is Rose H. Rao (re-marriage name Rose Schwartz; the daughter of Enrico Henry Rao and Concetta Greco). Rose was born in Pennsylvania. Enrico was Italian, the son of Joseph Rao and Rose Conti, who was born in Messina, Sicilia. Concetta was born in Pennsylvania, to Italian parents.

Source: Hayden’s maternal grandmother, Rose H. Rao, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org