Jake Lloydthe actor who played young Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: The Phantom Menaceis currently in the hospital after suffering what his mother described as a “full-blown psychotic break” in March 2023.
While the film recently celebrated its 25th anniversary, the now 35-year-old has been largely absent and out of the spotlight since its release.
What Jake Lloyd’s mother said about her son’s hospitalization
His mother, Lisa, gave an exclusive interview to Scripps News about her son’s life after Star Wars, revealing that He had been diagnosed with schizophrenia when he was 20 years old. and that he began experiencing symptoms while in high school.
“Jake started having some problems in high school,” Lisa said. “He started talking about ‘realities’. He didn’t know if he was in this reality or a different reality. He really didn’t know exactly what to say to that.”
One day, Lisa asked her son if he had finished his homework. “And he said, ‘Well, I don’t even know if I need to do it.’ I don’t know what reality I’m in,’” she said. “And I said, ‘Well, you’re in my reality today, so you have to do your homework.’”
Lisa also said that a doctor suggested she had Bipolar disorder and tried numerous medications to help control his symptoms, but nothing worked.
When I was going to university, He told his mother “that people followed him” and he also frequently missed classes. He sometimes mentioned seeing people with “black eyes” staring at him on the street and having late-night conversations with Daily Show host Jon Stewart through his television. “He did not tell us that he was hearing voices at that time. But he was,” he added.
Lloyd was diagnosed with schizophrenia after dropping out of college, which worsened his mental health.. “When they finally told her, she totally plunged him into an even worse depression. “It was really difficult.”
His condition was exacerbated by a neurological condition called anosognosiawhich makes the patient unaware of their symptoms or unconsciously deny them.
“He didn’t think he needed to take medication because he wasn’t sick,” Lisa said. “He didn’t think he needed to go to a therapist because there was nothing wrong with him.”
Subsequently He went to prison for 10 months in 2015 after police said he led them on a chase through several counties before crashing his car while not taking his medication. Lisa wanted her to go to the hospital, but she discovered there were no beds available.
The “psychotic break” that occurred last year took place while she was driving him home after buying food at McDonald’s. She said she wanted to turn off the car. And she turned the car in the middle of the three lanes, and we were in the center lane,” Lisa recalled. “There was a lot of screaming and yelling.”
Drivers stuck in the center lane called the police, and when they questioned Lloyd, nothing he told them made any sense.
He was then admitted to the hospital and transferred to an inpatient mental health facility. He is currently 10 months into an 18-month stay and has shown notable signs of improvement.
“He’s doing much better than I expected,” Lisa said. “She’s relating better to people and becoming a little more sociable, which is really nice. It’s like getting more of the old Jake back, because he’s always been incredibly social until he became schizophrenic.”
Why Jake Lloyd walked away from Hollywood
He also commented on his reasons for moving away from Hollywood. “People say he quit because of Star Wars. Well, that’s not true. She had nothing to do with Star Wars. It had more to do with our family. And we were going through a divorce,” Lisa explained. “Things were unstable and a little difficult. And Jake didn’t seem to have much fun auditioning anymore.”
He continued: “Jake loved filming Star Wars. He had a lot of fun. I would love for him to recover enough to be able to do something, and I’m sure he would maybe like to do that. He might not be able to right now, but you never know how much he’s going to improve. So we’ll see.”
Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
