Back in the day, Jake Lloyd talked about getting bullied because of his role as Anakin in the first prequel film, which brought a lot of attention to his relationship with ‘Star Wars.’ His mother, Lisa, recently set the record straight about the matter in a chat with Scripps News.
She made it clear that the harsh feedback and negative attention from his ‘Star Wars’ days had nothing to do with Jake’s mental health issues. Instead, she pointed to schizophrenia being a genetic issue, something that runs in his biological father’s family:
“It would have happened anyway. I believe that it was genetic. And his psychiatrist also agrees that Jake was going to become schizophrenic.”
Lisa also mentioned that back in 1999, when ‘Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace’ came out, Jake was pretty much shielded from all the negativity. She focused on keeping him away from the online backlash, ensuring he was just a kid enjoying his childhood:
“I protected him from the backlash. He was just riding his bike outside, playing with his friends. He didn’t know. He didn’t care. Everybody makes such a big deal about that. And it’s rather annoying to me because Jake was a little kid when that came out, and he didn’t really feel all that stuff because I didn’t let him online.”
He Didn’t Quit Because Of The Space Franchise
After stepping away from the spotlight over a decade ago, Jake has had a tough time with his mental health. However, there’s a silver lining as Lisa shared some positive news about his current interests, especially related to the franchise.
She noted that the child actor enjoyed the new ‘Star Wars’ content like ‘Ahsoka’ on Disney+ and even got an action figure of Rosario Dawson’s Jedi Knight for his birthday. Her words read:
“He loves all the new ‘Star Wars’ stuff. People think Jake hates ‘Star Wars.’ He loves it.”
Tackling another rumor head-on, Lisa clarified that Jake’s decision to quit acting wasn’t because of his ‘Star Wars’ experience. Instead, it was due to personal family matters:
“People say he quit because of ‘Star Wars.’ Well, that’s not true. It didn’t have anything to do with ‘Star Wars.’ It had more to do with our family. And we were going through a divorce. Things were unsettled and kind of rough. And Jake didn’t seem to be having a lot of fun auditioning anymore.”
In a bit of news for ‘Star Wars’ fans, ‘The Phantom Menace’ is set for a re-release this May to celebrate its 25th anniversary. This gives fans a chance to see Jake Lloyd on the big screen once again, alongside the rest of the cast.
