Now this is a welcome update. Jake Lloyd, the former child actor who played the young Anakin Skywalker in 1999’s Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, told journalist Clayton Sandell he’s feeling “pretty good” nearly a year after his mother opened up about his struggles with mental illness. Lloyd, 35, provided Sandell with the update weeks after successfully competing an 18-month stay at an inpatient mental health facility in Southern California. As of January 2025, Sandell reports, Lloyd continues to receive treatment at a new rehabilitation facility where he’s free to come and go whenever he wants.
Videos by ComicBook.com
“[I’m feeling] pretty good, considering these 20 years of time that have come to an end,” Lloyd said. “I can now accept taking on continued treatment, and therapy, and my meds. Everyone’s been very supportive.”
RELATED: Star Wars Cut A Major Phantom Menace Ending Twist, Now Revealed 25 Years Later
Lloyd was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 2008 and suffered what his mother called a “full-blown psychotic break” in March 2023. In the update, Lloyd’s mother, Lisa Lloyd, told Sandell that her son has been making progress because he’s overcoming a medical condition called anosognosia. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, anosognosia can be caused by schizophrenia and makes it so that someone is unaware of their own mental health condition or unable to accurately perceive their condition.
The former actor, whose credits include episodes of ER and the 1996 film Jingle All the Way, added that “good things” have come from being admitted to mental health facilities for treatment. Hitting what he called “rock bottom” was necessary to “honestly take part in treatment, honestly take your meds, and honestly live with your diagnosis.”
“I don’t have the time for feeling volatile,” he added of taking medication. “It is very much a cushion.”
In Sandell’s 2024 interview with Lisa Lloyd, she said her son was “doing much better” and “relating to people better and becoming a little bit more social” 10 months into an 18-month stay at an inpatient program at a mental health rehabilitation facility.
She also cleared up rumors that the initial reception to The Phantom Menace contributed to her son’s mental illness and ultimately drove him to quit acting. “It would have happened anyway,” she said of Jake’s schizophrenia diagnosis. “I believe that it was genetic. And his psychiatrist also agrees that Jake was going to become schizophrenic.”
Lloyd, then 8, was unaware of any backlash to The Phantom Menace “because I didn’t let him online,” she said, revealing that her son “loves all the new Star Wars stuff,” including the Disney+ series Ahsoka. “People think Jake hates Star Wars. He loves it.”
“People say he quit [acting] because of Star Wars. Well, that’s not true. It didn’t have anything to do with Star Wars,” Lisa said of Jake, whose last acting credit was voicing Anakin Skywalker in the 2002 video game Star Wars: Racer Revenge. “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.”
As for Jake potentially appearing in a future Star Wars project, potentially as a cameo like his Phantom Menace co-star, Jar-Jar Binks actor Ahmed Best, Lisa said, “Jake loved filming Star Wars. He had so much fun. I would love for him to get well enough to be able to do a little bit of something, and I’m sure he would maybe like to do that. He couldn’t at this point, but you never know how much he’s going to improve. So we’ll see.”
When Sandell informed Lloyd of the online support for the Anakin Skywalker actor that followed the 2024 update, Lloyd said in the new interview, “The experience I’ve had with the fans is immediately therapeutic. Right now, it’s still therapeutic. It’s helpful for people and healthy. It isn’t something I’d shy away from.”
“I really do appreciate the time that’s been taken on us,” Lloyd added. “I’m very appreciative.”
