Featured Image Credit: 20th Century Fox/Colleton County Sheriff’s Office
Topics: Star Wars, Mental Health, Celebrity, Crime, Film and TV
Niamh Shackleton
Topics: Star Wars, Mental Health, Celebrity, Crime, Film and TV
While being a young actor might seem like lots of fun, it definitely seems to come with its hardships.
One person to have experienced this first hand is 35-year-old Jake Lloyd, who found fame in Hollywood as Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace.
Arguably this was his biggest role but in the years running up to his debut as Skywalker, Lloyd starred alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in Jingle All The Way (1996), and 1998 sci-fi thriller, Virtual Obsession.
Lloyd then starred in Madison in 2001 in what would be his last film before retiring from acting all together.
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At the time, he cited being bullied at school as one of the key factors, having also had to endure up to 60 interviews a day at one point in his career – saying his life became a ‘living hell’.
"Other children were really mean to me," he told BlackBook in 2012.
"They would make the sound of the lightsaber every time they saw me. It was totally mad. My entire school life was really a living hell - and I had to do up to 60 interviews a day."
He added: "I've learned to hate it when the cameras are pointed at me."
In June 2015, Lloyd was arrested in South Carolina for reckless driving, driving without a license and resisting arrest.
He had been driving in Charleston when the Sheriff of Colleton County started pursuing him, with a chase enduring for 25 miles before Lloyd lost control of the vehicle and ploughed into a fence - continuing to drive along a road before reaching a wooded area, where the pursuit ended.
He was imprisoned until April 2016, before being moved to a psychiatric facility - with mother Lisa telling TMZ that Lloyd has schizophrenia, adding that she could ‘already see an improvement in his personality'.
Since the release of the Star Wars prequels, they have become some of the most controversial mainstream movies of all time.
However, despite the mixed reception, Lloyd’s former co-star Liam Neeson is still proud of them.
The Irish actor played Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn in Episode I – The Phantom Menace, which also featured Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Natalie Portman as Padmé Amidala.
It was maligned by critics and fans alike, but Neeson is happy about his work on the series.
In a 2020 interview with SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen, he was asked about his feelings on The Phantom Menace since its release in 1999; more specifically, how he’d defend the movie.
Neeson replied: “I know a lot of fans and critics didn’t like it… I’m very proud of the film. I got to be a Jedi. I got to play with those wonderful lightsabers and stuff. It was terrific, Andy, it really was.”
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace is currently streaming on Disney+.