Jake Lloyd, the kid who brought to life a young Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, has had a difficult life. Now, his mother has spoken out about her son’s health.
The prequel trilogy was either a hit or a miss for fans, it just depends on your perspective. However, not everyone came away from Star Wars:The Phantom Menace unscathed.
Jake Lloyd who brought us a young Anakin Skywalker, has struggled since his acting days. As a child, he was bullied because of his involvement with Star Wars and how much people hated Darth Vader’s origin story. This left the preteen broken. He destroyed his Star Wars memorabilia and hasn’t acted since 2001.
According to Geek Now News, his mother has given an update to how her son is doing. She said in a statement:
"We would like to thank everyone for their kind words, their support, and goodwill. Jake has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, but unfortunately he also has a symptom called anosognosia which causes a lack insight into his illness. This only adds to the struggle his faces, which has been very difficult after the tragic death of his younger sister, Madison. He has moved closer to his family and we are all working hard to help him with this. He is still a kind and caring person and we hope to have him back to his fun and entertaining self as soon as possible. Jake will continue to make progress with the love and support you continue to show."
A CinemaBlend article gives more context into what’s been happening in his life.
More from Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
- Theory: Is Shmi Skywalker actually Abeloth from Legends?
- Theory: Are Anakin and Padme closer in age than we thought?
- How many Oscars has Star Wars won?
- Now this is Podracing! The Bad Batch and The Phantom Menace connection
- Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 2 episode 4 review: ‘Faster’
At 19, he started to show symptoms of schizophrenia. In 2018, his younger sister, Madison died at 26 of natural causes in her sleep. Their mother described her daughter’s death as “shattering” on everyone in their family, especially Jake.
In 2015, it’s alleged Jake assaulted his mother, however she didn’t press charges as he was off his medication at the time. A few months later, Lloyd was in a high speed chase in South Carolina after failing to stop at a red light. He was charged with reckless driving, driving without a license, resisting arrest and failing to stop at a red light.
According to an article by TMZ in 2016, after a brief stint in prison, he went to a psychiatric facility to recover. Though he lapsed after he stopped taking his medication prior to assaulting his mother.
In recent years, Mark Hamill who played Anakin’s future son, Luke in the original films slammed fans and critics for their treatment of Jake Lloyd during the prequel era. In a 2017 CinemaBlend article he is quoted as saying:
"I couldn’t believe some of things they wrote about the prequels, you know. I mean really, beyond ‘I don’t like it’. I’m still angry about the way they treated Jake Lloyd. He was only ten years old, that boy, and he did exactly what George wanted him to do. Believe me, I understand clunky dialog."
It’s also stated Hamill has an issue of people saying the prequel films ruined their childhoods. He also said that it’s fine to hate a movie, but the hate shouldn’t be thrown at a child actor who was simply doing what he was told.
We agree with him 100%. No child should ever have to put up with vile fans who hate them because of a character. A big thank you to Jake’s mother for providing us with an update. She didn’t have to given what her son has gone through. We can only hope things get better.
Thinking of you, Jake Lloyd. Always.
What do you think? Should the people who slammed the prequels be forced to apologize for their hate towards Jake? Comment below!