Jake Lloyd who starred as young Anakin Skywalker is struggling with paranoid schizophrenia, his mother says
Actor Jake Lloyd, who starred as the child Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, is struggling with paranoid schizophrenia, according to his family.
'Jake has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, but unfortunately he also has a symptom called anosognosia which causes a lack of insight into his illness,' his mother Lisa said in a statement to Geek News.
'This only adds to the struggle he faces, which has been very difficult after the tragic loss of his younger sister, Madison,' she continued.
Madison, who was an extra in Phantom Menace, died in 2018 at the age of 26. Her family said she died in her sleep of natural causes but have declined to offer further specifics.
Lloyd was cast in The Phantom Menace at the age of six, after starring in the 1996 Christmas classic Jingle All The Way, opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger.
After Star Wars, however, his acting career virtually ended overnight. His last movie credit was a bit part in the 2001 sports drama Madison.
In a 2012 interview, Lloyd said that he had decided to quit acting due to cruel bullying at school, and he had destroyed all of his Star Wars memorabilia.
After moving from Hollywood to Chicago and studying film at Columbia College, Lloyd dropped out after just one semester.
Police were called to his mother's home in Indianapolis in March 2015 for an assault complaint. She said he had argued with her and struck her, but declined to press charges, saying he was mentally ill.
In June 2015, Lloyd was arrested under the legally-changed name of 'Jake Broadbent' in South Carolina following a high-speed police pursuit.
The chase occurred after officers attempted to pull over Lloyd, but he instead sped up and started passing cars and'driving in a reckless manner ... and endangering the safety ofthe motoring public,' according to a police statement.
He drove his car off the road, through a fence and into awooded area where he came to a stop after crashing into somesmall trees, police said.
Lloyd was charged with driving without a license, resisting arrest and failing to stop for a police car's blue flashing light.
His bail was set at just $10,700, but he was apparently unable to post bond, and spent 10 months behind bars at the Colleton County Detention Center awaiting trial.
Finally, he was transferred from jail to a psychiatric facility with a diagnosis of schizophrenia in April 2016. It's unclear how his legal case was resolved.
Since then, Lloyd has been living quietly and out of the news, though he has made podcast appearances to say that he does not hate Star Wars.
'He has moved closer to his family and we are all working hard to help him with this,' his mother Lisa said this week.
'He is still a kind and caring person and we hope to have him back to his fun and entertaining self as soon as possible. Jake will continue to make progress with the love and support you continue to show,' she continued.
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