Jake Lloyd: ‘Star Wars’ Actor In Psychiatric Facility
Jake Lloyd, best known for playing a young Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, was moved to a psychiatric facility last week after spending close to a year in jail.
New York Daily News reports that Lloyd, 27, reportedly suffers from schizophrenia. The former actor has spent close to 10 months in the Colleton County, South Carolina, jail. His arrest stems from a June 2015 incident after Lloyd led South Carolina police on a high-speed car chase through two counties. He continued speeding onto Interstate 95, even plowing through a fence until he lost control of his car.
'Star Wars' Jake Lloyd moved from jail to psychiatric facility https://t.co/DLrUeviyvG
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After Lloyd zoomed through a fence and crashed his car into a tree, police finally caught up with him. A statement released by South Carolina authorities says the following.
“The suspect vehicle ran off the right hand side of the road and drove through a fence and continued driving along a frontage road that ran alongside I-95.”
When questioned, he gave his name as “Jake Broadbent,” the name he was born with. Like many actors with unusual names, Lloyd used a different last name when he landed the role as Anakin Skywalker. He was arrested for reckless driving, failure to stop, driving without a driver’s license, and resisting arrest.
Authorities now think that he would be much better off spending time getting medical treatment for his condition than he would behind bars. Lloyd’s mother, Lisa, said that she can already see an improvement in her son and that the family wants to give him time to get healthy.
Shortly after his arrest last year, his mother stated that her son suffers from mental disorders. He reportedly attacked her several months before his arrest after failing to take his prescribed medications. According to Lisa, her son attacked her in her Indianapolis home last March. He kicked her several times and accused her of “ruining” his life.
Although she called the police, Lisa Lloyd decided not to press charges on her son. She indicated that he has suffered from schizophrenia since he was 19.
Lloyd left acting a few years after his rise to stardom in the Star Wars film. He said that before the madness of fame died down, it wasn’t uncommon to do around 60 interviews in one day. In a 2012 interview, he reflected on his experiences of returning back to school and how kids teased him for being an actor.
“Other children were really mean to me. They would make the sound of the light saber 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.”
Lloyd went to school in Australia for a while where he studied film and psychology. During that time, he also attended a comic convention and seemed clearly perturbed when a reporter asked him about his role as Anakin Skywalker. After a noticeable tension coming from Lloyd each time he was asked about Star Wars, the reporter asked him if he was unhappy about being questioned about his past career.
“I’m just trying to ascertain the real meaning of your questions and make sure I give you the best interview possible.”
The former actor then said he was at the convention for the fans only. He also said he didn’t keep in touch with any of the other Star Wars actors.
“Literally I disappeared on purpose and I do these (comic conventions) maybe once or twice a year, and I’ve only been doing that for the last couple of years.”
Jake Lloyd played his last movie role in 2005. He played the role of Mike McCormick in the drama sports film, Madison.
[Photo by Colleton County Sheriff’s Office]
