The Mother of STAR WARS Prequel Actor Jake Lloyd Gives Update on the Actor's Mental Health and His Feelings Toward the Franchise
Star Wars prequel actor Jake Lloyd portrayed young Anakin Skywalker in the first prequel film, Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. Before that role, he appeared in the Christmas film Jingle All the Way, opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger, and post-Star Wars, he took on a starring role in the film Madison, opposite Jim Caviezel and Bruce Dern. The actor had a promising start, but he decided to step away from acting, and has had somewhat of a rough go of it since coming of age.
In a recent interview with Scripps News (via CBM), Jake’s mother, Lisa Lloyd, spoke out about when her son’s troubles began, his current status, and how he feels about Star Wars these days. She explained that Jake started suffering from delusions and ultimately dropped out of college after he began hearing voices. Jake has since been officially diagnosed with schizophrenia, though his issues have persisted (and were exacerbated when his sister, Madison, died of natural causes in 2018, aged only 26).
The Anakin actor unfortunately suffered a full-blown psychotic break last year while driving home from McDonald's with his mom.
"He said he wanted to turn the car off. And he turned the car off in the middle of the three lanes, and we were in the middle lane. There was a lot of yelling and screaming. The police got there, and they asked Jake some questions. He was talking to them, but none of it made sense. It was all word salad."
Jake was admitted to the hospital and is now 10 months into an 18-month stay in a mental health rehabilitation facility.
"He’s doing much better than I expected. He is relating to people better and becoming a little bit more social, which is really nice. It's kind of like having more of the old Jake back, because he has always been incredibly social until he became schizophrenic."
Lisa revealed that Jake enjoyed the new Ahsoka series and that she gifted him an action figure of the character for his birthday.
"He loves all the new 'Star Wars' stuff. People think Jake hates 'Star Wars.' He loves it."
As for the widespread belief his role in The Phantom Menace caused these mental health struggles, she adds:
"It would have happened anyway. I believe that it was genetic. And his psychiatrist also agrees that Jake was going to become schizophrenic.
I protected him from the backlash. He was just riding his bike outside, playing with his friends. He didn't know. He didn't care. Everybody makes such a big deal about that. And it's rather annoying to me because Jake was a little kid when that came out, and he didn't really feel all that stuff because I didn't let him online. People say he quit [acting] because of 'Star Wars.' Well, that's not true. It didn't have anything to do with 'Star Wars.' It had more to do with our family. And we were going through a divorce. Things were unsettled and kind of rough. And Jake didn't seem to be having a lot of fun auditioning anymore."
I’m so glad to hear that he is feeling better, and we at GeekTyrant hope nothing but happiness for Jake Lloyd. It’s awesome to hear that he is still able to enjoy Star Wars and participate in the fandom. He plays a hugely important role in the Star Wars universe, and will always hold a special place in the hearts of fans.