As Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is set to celebrate its 25th anniversary, Jake Lloyd's mother is shedding new light on what happened to her son in the years since he appeared as a young Anakin Skywalker in the film.
In a new interview with Scripps News, Lisa Lloyd said that mental illness and family tragedy played a big part in her son receding from the spotlight.
Despite having a normal childhood, Lloyd began having trouble in high school, and was ultimately diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. He described experiencing different realities, hearing voices, and people following him.
“When they finally told him, it totally threw him off into an even worse depression,” Lisa said. “It was really hard.”
In the years since, Lloyd's parents got divorced. and his sister died at age 26 of natural causes. “He just couldn't handle it. He didn't know how to process it,” Lisa added.
It took some time for Lloyd to consistently take his medication and really understand the intricacies of his condition. Now, for the first time in a while, he’s enjoying being social with his family and friends, his mother said. He and his mother also went to the movies and saw Wonka.
“He really loved it,” she explained. “That was one of the things that we couldn’t do when he was off his medication was watch movies. He just didn’t have the attention span for it.”
Lisa insisted that her son is still a fan of Star Wars, and that he’s been watching the Disney+ show, Ashoka. She wanted to dispel rumors that he doesn’t like the franchise due to the negative reactions to The Phantom Menace, which many think is the reason why Lloyd quit acting—and that it triggered his mental illness.
“It would have happened anyway,” Lisa said. “I believe that it was genetic. And his psychiatrist also agrees that Jake was going to become schizophrenic.”
She added, “Jake loved filming Star Wars. He had so much fun.”
While Lisa doesn’t think her son will return to the limelight, she said he is doing much better now.
“We're in a lot better place. And we do have a lot of things to look forward to,” she said. “We all love Jake, and we want to be around him. I just want him to be happy.”
