He was chosen from more than 3,000 applicants to play Anakin Skywalker in “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace”, but what could and should have been his big breakthrough turned into a nightmare…
While his work on the Obi-Wan Kenobi series allowed Hayden Christensen, by his own admission, to come to terms with his past incarnation of Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, the same unfortunately did not go for Jake Lloyd. , who played the young Anakin in the first part of the prelogy, Star Wars – episode I: the phantom menace.
Chosen among more than 3000 children, Jake already had experience in the cinema. He had notably given the reply to Arnold Schwarzenegger in The toy race, and appeared on the poster of Pick up the stars by Nick Cassavetes.
The Star Wars Curse
At the time, the interpretation of the young actor was very heavily criticized in the film Star Wars. If playing in the saga is perceived as a privilege, it is also experienced by some as a curse.
This was the case of Carrie Fisher, and also that of Jake Lloyd, who had a very bad experience of the post-Phantom Menace period, to the point of stopping any desire to return to the world of cinema. His last appearance dates back to 2005 in the film Madison, which was shot in 1999. He then tried to (re)fall into anonymity, wishing to spend his adolescence quietly.
From 2001, he stuck to his decision not to shoot any more films, no longer supporting a camera being pointed at him. In 2012, he even claimed in an interview that “his sudden fame had made his life hell”. In June 2015, he was arrested for speeding and driving without a license. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia while in prison, and placed in a mental institution…
In the video below, an interview dated 2009, conducted by Sci-Fi Australia, Jake Lloyd evokes the painful memories of his childhood and his post-Star Wars period. A very touching interview, full of lucidity, and ultimately pathetic.
Mark Hamill comes to his defense
Passing through the Sundance Film Festival in 2017, Mark Hamill defended the young actor during an interview with a journalist from the Vulture site. “I’m still angry about the way they [NDLR : les fans et les critiques] Jake Lloyd treaty. He was only ten years old at the time, yet he did exactly what George [NDLR : Lucas] asked him and expected of him. Believe me, I know what it’s like to have sometimes awkward dialogue.”
And to add, about the violence of certain criticisms of the prequel trilogy: “I couldn’t believe some of the things written about the prequels. I mean, beyond the ‘I don’t like’ or ‘you ruined my childhood’.
Home medical care
The latest news about Jake Lloyd, now 33, comes from his family. In a press release published in early 2020, she revealed that he had left the medical establishment where he was, and that he now benefited from medical monitoring at home, surrounded by all his family.
“Jake suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, one of the symptoms of which is anosognosia” explained his family. Anosognosia is a neuropsychological disorder whose consequence is that the patient with a disease or disability does not seem to be aware of his condition.
“We are all working very hard to help him”ensuring that he “was making progress”and that she was confident in the fact of “regain the joyful and playful personality that was his as soon as possible.” Sad…