Playing it light for a change
Hayden Christensen’s Italian grandmother fuelled passion for food
Hayden Christensen had an ace in the hole in his latest role as an easygoing Italian-Canadian son of the pizzeria owner: a nonna from the old country in his immediate famiglia.
“I’m a quarter Italian so (the role) is not a complete stretch. On my mother’s side, my grandmother is Italian so I’m familiar with the culture,” said Christensen, 37, who plays Leo, a man with unfinished business with childhood sweetheart Nikki (Emma Roberts) in Little Ita
ly, opening Friday. “That’s where my passion for food came from … spending time with her in the kitchen. When I finished reading the script, I was like, I have to make this movie if for no other reason than this will easily be my grandmother’s favourite movie I’ve ever done,” he added, noting she flew in from Long Island for the movie’s red carpet premiere in Toronto this week.
Best known for playing troubled young Anakin Skywalker in Star Warsepisodes II and III, a serial plagiarist in Broken
Glass (2003), as well as other tortured characters, Christensen is pleased to play a young man with a lot less baggage.
“(Leo)’s a pretty easygoing guy,” he agrees.
“He isn’t dealing with inner turmoil and conflict, all the things that I’m used to sinking my teeth into, and I think that was attractive, just doing something a little bit lighter. He appreciates the simple things in life. He’s very devoted to his family … and has a pretty straightforward existence. I liked Leo when I read the script for the first time.
“It’s not one of my darker roles.”
Christensen was also drawn to a gentle story about two warring Italian-Canadian families and the love that blooms in two generations in spite of it.
“It was the story I found compelling. It was a story that spoke to me. It was a story about coming home, coming home to what you love and who you love,” he said. Having grown up in Markham — and he still owns a farm in Uxbridge — Christensen has affection for the big city to the south.
“Certainly the fact that the movie was shot here and takes place here was meaningful to me. Portraying Toronto as Toronto, that was an opportunity that I wanted to be part of,” he said.
While all kinds of Italian stereotypes, including the hot tempers and extravagant gestures, are broadly lampooned in the film, it’s done in a light comedic spirit, Christensen added.
“There’s lot of feuding and misguided passion and it’s all embraced in a loving way,” he said. “I think that this movie treats the Italian community with great affection.”