Jake Lloyd Biography

Jake Matthew Lloyd is an American former actor who came to limelight as a child actor playing young Anakin Skywalker in the film ‘Star Wars: Episode I –The Phantom Menace’. Later, he reprised this role in five Star Wars video games. Jake, who was only 9-year-old when he portrayed Anakin, had a difficult life since the release of the movie. He was highly criticized for his “terrible” performance in ‘The Phantom Menace’, which plagued his life with mental health issues. Many in the industry spoke out in the youngster’s support and criticized the reactions given to the child actor. Actor Mark Hamill recently revealed that he is still angry at how Jake was treated following the film’s release. Actor Ron Howard also defended young Jake‘s performance in ‘The Phantom Menace’, stating that “Lloyd was only a child, and any faults in his performance were the responsibility of the people who cast him, and of George Lucas for not doing a good enough job of directing him (or giving him good enough dialogue).” Jake ultimately quit the acting profession in 2001, claiming that the role had made his childhood a “living hell.” In an interview in 2012, he said, “Other children were really mean to me. They would make the sound of the light saber every time they saw me. It was totally mad.” He also said that at one point he did around 60 interviews a day. “My entire school life was really a living hell,” he added. In 2015, he was arrested for reckless driving. Currently, he has been moved from the jail to a psychiatric center after he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. From ‘ER’ and ‘Star Wars’ to a psychiatric home, Jake’s journey is surely one of the saddest falls from grace for a child actor who once dreamed of stardom.