Credit: Lucasfilm
During the production of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Hayden Christensen recalled meeting Robert De Niro while filming one of the movie’s iconic scenes.

What did Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor say about meeting Robert De Niro?

In Revenge of the Sith, the climactic moment occurs when Anakin Skywalker (Christensen) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) engage in an epic lightsaber duel on the planet Mustafar. During a panel discussion at Fan Expo New Orleans, Christensen revealed that De Niro watched the filming of that legendary Star Wars battle.

“Robert DeNiro showed up to set,” Christensen said. “I remember just standing with Ewan, and Ewan says to me, ‘Is that Robert De Niro standing over there?’ And I’m looking over like, ‘Yeah, I think that is him.’ So we’re excited he’s there, and then he walked over, and he was very friendly. I remember I would do a lot of push-ups before each take to get my heart rate up and a little exhaustion going, and he said, ‘You know, I see you doing push-ups before the takes. I do that too.’ That felt good.“

McGregor also remembers when De Niro visited the set that day. However, McGregor shared a hilarious story about how he learned about the legendary actor’s visit while spinning on a prop.

“We cut, and as we’re waiting to do the next take, he [Christensen] goes, ‘I heard that De Niro might be here,’” McGregor said at a fan expo (via @starlordziggy). “My prop guy hadn’t stopped turning me around, and as I was turning, I saw De Niro behind the monitor. I was like, “It’s too late. He’s here.’”

@starlordziggy Ewan McGregor on meeting Robert De Niro #ewanmcgregor #robertdeniro Professional performer ♬ original sound – Ziggy

McGregor laughed about the ordeal and later told De Niro about the “humiliating” moment years later.

Christensen will reprise his role as Anakin Skywalker in Ahsoka Season 2, which does not yet have a Disney+ release date.