Jake Lloyd performed Anakin Skywalker in 1999’s Star Wars: Episode 1 — The Phantom Menace and left the limelight shortly after the movie’s launch.
In a brand new interview, Lloyd’s mom, Lisa Lloyd, up to date the general public on her son and dispelled rumors that had plagued the Star Wars neighborhood for a few years.
Lisa talked to Scripps Information and stated her son was identified with paranoid schizophrenia in 2008 after struggling and speaking about residing in several realities, seeing individuals with “black eyes,” and mentioning having conversations with The Each day Present host Jon Stewart.
On high of that, Jake appeared to have a neurological situation known as anosognosia, which causes a affected person to be in denial about their signs.
“He didn’t suppose he wanted to take treatment as a result of he wasn’t sick,” Lisa stated. “He didn’t suppose he wanted to go to the therapist as a result of there’s nothing flawed with him.”
In 2015, Jake obtained in bother with the regulation, main deputies throughout a multi-county persecution that led to a crash. Lisa employed an lawyer to attempt to get her son out of jail and checked right into a medical facility as he was off his drugs. Nonetheless, Lisa was advised the hospital was out of beds and Jake spent 10 months in jail. In 2018, Jake’s sister, who appeared as an additional in The Phantom Menace, died of pure causes, which aggravated his situation.
Lisa stated that in March 2023, Jake suffered “a full-blown psychotic break” when he requested her mother to cease the automotive in the course of the road. Jake was then admitted to a psychological well being rehabilitation facility, the place he has proven an enchancment within the 10 months he’s been there.
Issues are so a lot better that Jake can now watch films, having watched Wonka lately.
“That was one of many issues that we couldn’t do when he was off his treatment was watch films. He simply didn’t have the eye span for it,” Lisa stated.
Lisa additionally talked about that Jake is a big Star Wars fan and lately watched the Disney+ sequence Ahsoka. The previous youngster actor obtained an motion determine of the present’s star for his birthday.
“He loves all the brand new Star Wars stuff,” she says. “Individuals suppose Jake hates Star Wars. He loves it.”
Lisa additionally dispelled the misunderstanding that what led to Jake’s psychological sickness was the backlash The Phantom Menace obtained when it was launched.
“It could have occurred anyway,” Lisa stated, noting the medical historical past of schizophrenia on Jake’s father’s aspect of the household. “I imagine that it was genetic. And his psychiatrist additionally agrees that Jake was going to turn out to be schizophrenic.”
She continued, “I protected him from the backlash. He was simply driving his bike outdoors, enjoying along with his mates. He didn’t know. He didn’t care. Everyone makes such an enormous deal about that. And it’s somewhat annoying to me as a result of Jake was somewhat child when that got here out, and he didn’t actually really feel all that stuff as a result of I didn’t let him on-line.”
Lisa additionally clarified that Jake didn’t give up appearing as a result of Star Wars as “it needed to do with our household. And we have been going by means of divorce.”
Though Lisa doesn’t see Jake returning to the Star Wars universe, she does recall he “cherished filming Star Wars. He had a lot enjoyable.”
Earlier than The Phantom Menace, Jake had starred in movies like Jingle All of the Method alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger and Apollo 11. On tv, Jake seems in episodes of ER and The Pretender. His final movie credit score was in 2001’s Madison.
Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger with Jake Lloyd on the set of the movie ‘Jingle All of the Method,’ directed by Brian Levant
