“Star Wars” hero Jake Lloyd
He is in a psychiatric facility
Jake Lloyd as young Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars.
© imago/Ronald Grant
Jake Lloyd became a child star thanks to Star Wars. Now his mother has revealed that he is currently being treated in a psychiatric hospital.
Jake Lloyd (35), who became known as a child actor in the “Star Wars” series, is currently in a rehabilitation facility for mentally ill people, according to his mother. In an interview with Scripps News, Lisa Lloyd also talked about her son’s ordeal.
Jake, who played the young Anakin Skywalker as a child in “Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace” (1999), apparently fell ill when he was a teenager. “Jake started having problems in high school,” Lisa Lloyd told Scripps News: “He started talking about ‘realities.’ He didn’t know if he was in this reality or another. I didn’t know exactly what to say.”
“It was really hard”
After she took Jake to see a doctor, he explained that he might be suffering from bipolar disorder. Although he was prescribed several medications, nothing seemed to work, according to his mother. Jake then graduated high school in 2007 and wanted to go to Columbia College Chicago. But then things changed drastically, Lisa Lloyd reports. “He missed a lot of classes and told me that people were following him.” Doctors then diagnosed paranoid schizophrenia. “When they finally told him, he fell into an even worse depression,” Lisa Lloyd said in the interview with Scripps News. “It was really hard.”
His mother also revealed that Jake Lloyd is currently undergoing treatment at a mental health facility for a total of 18 months after he had a breakdown in March 2023. He parked his car in the middle of a three-lane road and other drivers called the police.
Jake was hospitalized that same day and transferred to the inpatient program at the rehabilitation facility a few months later. “He’s doing a lot better than I expected,” his mother said of the former child star’s health, adding that he’s “becoming a little more social.”
“I protected him”
“Star Wars: Episode I” was a failure with many fans and critics after its release. But the child star is said to have noticed nothing of this. “I protected him from the reactions,” his mother said in the new interview. Jake Lloyd apparently withdrew from the public for other reasons.
The former actor made headlines in 2015 with a police chase and a stint in prison. Even back then it was said that he suffered from schizophrenia.