Jake Lloyd, the ex-"Star Wars" actor who played Anakin Skywalker, is suffering from schizophrenia. His mother confirmed his condition to a gossip site but stated that there are already improvements to his mental health.
TMZ reports that Lloyd was recently moved to a psychiatric ward after staying in prison for 10 months. Authorities believe the former actor needed mental help more than punishment after his arrest for speeding in June 2015. His mom, Lisa, has been monitoring her son through this whole ordeal. She told TMZ that Lloyd's personality has since improved when she last spoke with him.
New York Daily News reports that the 27-year-old actor's family is not sure when the authorities will finally release Lloyd, but they believe that he should be confined to the mental health facility as long as he gets better. Lisa has confessed in past interviews that her son had been physically harming her before he was arrested. The New York Post cited in 2015 that Lloyd hit and stomped on his mom a number of times. However, she did not pursue any charges against him.
Lisa also said her son had been on medication for his mental health. When he stopped taking this, his behavior spiraled and he ended up in jail. Watch Lloyd's car chase with the police on the day he was arrested in the video below:
Lloyd was 10 when he starred in "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace" as Anakin Skywalker, who would eventually be known as Darth Vader. The movie was released in 1999 and also starred Natalie Portman and Liam Neeson.
Daily Mail reports that the actor never got to deal with his fame well. He missed school to do interviews and attend events, but he hated the process more and more as he got older. He was also bullied by other kids who knew he was Darth Vader and blamed George Lucas, the creator of "Star Wars" for ruining his life. "When you have something like that there's a lot of expectations for it to meet the standards of the public and I don't think George did that," said Lloyd.
