Val Kilmer as Anakin sounds pretty cool.

But I’m not sure about Lucas’ perception of Anakin around the mid 1980s. I agree he would almost certainly have conceived of Anakin as probably around 19 or 20 rather than a little kid. But I’m not sure if Lucas’ 1980s Anakin would simply be a translation of Hayden Christiansen into a 1980s equivalent (i.e. some 80s teen heartthrob/bad boy type).

The only definitive clue about Lucas’ actual mental image of Anakin around 1983 is the fact that Lucas cast Sebastian Shaw as elder Anakin. Shaw’s brief performance suggests Lucas perceived of Anakin as British, maybe because Kenobi was British and Lucas thought of Anakin as coming from the same world/environment as Kenobi. Gary Oldman (mentioned in the podcast) sounds like a possible candidate. Some of the actors mentioned for 1980s young Kenobi may also have been considered for Anakin by Lucas.

I used to imagine Anakin as something like a young Malcolm McDowell (although he was much too old to actually play Anakin in the mid 1980s.)