PT All things about Jake Lloyd (Consolidated Thread)

At least Jake got paid for all this....

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he should be happy that he wasn't the OTHER Star Wars kid.

 

There was no way to see that kind of condemnation from the fanbase. The fact is that Jake Lloyd had been acting before he did TPM and had no incidences until then. And it all came from a bunch of fans who had nothing better to do than take shots at him. And the kids, well, they're going to be cruel no matter what you do.

 

It is really funny that he says kids made fun of him and things. He lived a town over and at the time we only had one theater in the county. I would often see him there. He was always surrounded by friends and he was always smug and rude to any kid that walked up to him and asked him fro an autograph or anything. I personally never bothered him because I know it would annoy me if I was in his shoes. But I did feel bad for the little kids who would come up to him and the way he would treat them. Though on the other hand I did not attend the same school he did and can not comment on how he got treated there. All I can comment on is how he would act at the local movie theater.

 

To tell you the truth, I always got the impression that the kid was a ... well, like that.

 

How old was he when you saw him turning away little kids who wanted autographs?

Anyway, I think that the truth probably lies somewhere in between. I wouldn't be surprised if Lloyd faced stupid comments and bullying at school. Just like I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't tell people about the things all the things that he's done while giving his side of the story.

 

He was at least 16 the first time I saw him do it.

 

That's a sad and fascinating divide, isn't it?

He comes across as slightly smug and uppity -- mildly rambunctious -- in the "contract signing" scene in "The Beginning". But that's just my opinion. And I don't think it's anything for anyone to get upset about. If anything, that quality seems to have been carried into his performance of Anakin, if only a little.

You know what I mean? His derision when talking about fellow classmates who clearly struggled to understand the amount of time Lloyd would be required for the film vs. how long it would actually take to make?

"The Beginning" is a fabulously insightful documentary in sooooo many ways. There's a general consensus that it's the best of the prequel documentaries; and I heartily agree.

Also, if Lloyd copped a lot of flack early on, when still at a vulnerable age, it's likely he behaved in that sort of fashion to look tough amongst friends; the few he might have feared losing if he didn't try and dissociate himself from the role that got him all the bullying to begin with. That isn't to excuse any bad behaviour from Jake Lloyd if any occurred; but it sure makes psychological sense to me. Again, there's a pretty insightful bit in "The Beginning", during filming of the dinner scene, where Lloyd worries that he'll be laughed at if he goofs his lines. Quite ominous, really.

Well, then, he might have wanted to bury his connection to Star Wars at that age: still a critical time in one's young life; and all the more tumultuous, in some ways. On this basis, I can offer a personal anecdote. Recently, my sister was talking to me about TPM, and she is now seventeen: she said she had begun to doubt the quality of the prequels because her friends and peers had been laying into the film for being childish; and she cited Jar Jar. During one's teens, you typically go through a period of distancing yourself from earlier fads and fancies, because you want to fit in, not stand out; but you sometimes mature enough to re-absorb childhood affections later on. In any case, it's quite sad if that's what you actually saw, but it looks like Jake may have made peace with the role in more recent years; and hopefully, the fans. I've been on his Facebook page a few times. He seems pretty easy with himself today.

 

After seven years of living with SW in his face, you saw him being nice. He was long sick of it, by then. He was a kid, how long did it take for any of us to hate anything and everything that annoyed us? Let alone teasing from jerkface Star Wars fans who don't know the dif between actor and character.

Doesn't excuse his rather poor behavior, just saying that I totally understand why he wanted to be left alone.

 

He might feel bad about that, too. Perhaps he's angry about being thrust into that position, letting it go to his head briefly, then dealing with people who think he's a ****er as well as a bad actor who helped 'ruin Star Wars'.

I'm not trying to defend someone I don't know, let alone an actor whose performance I thought was rubbish (for various reasons, not just the acting), but the interview I saw made me feel really sorry for him. It sounded like the really rough times were when he went to college, and his actual comment about it sounded like he was trying to hold back some real bitterness and pain, it was very sarcastic - "And of course I ran into some really charming people there" (paraphrasing). This wasn't some celebrity making a throwaway comment, it was someone recounting genuinely painful experiences.

I really don't know what he's like, obviously, but I get the impression that he's angry for being the most vulnerable person involved in the insanity of the resurrected Star Wars franchise, which involved such a brutal backlash alongside the success. Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman - they were all well-established actors who could weather the lunacy. Jake Lloyd was just a kid, and not one with such a massive CV that he could just move on to the next acting role.

You can't blame GL for doing whatever with TPM when it comes to the ridiculously over-the-top reaction that seems to have emotionally crippled this young man, but you can't blame Jake for being bitter that it happened, either.

FWIW, Star Wars messed Carrie Fisher's life up good and proper, too, much worse than Jake Lloyd's, and it's not as if she had to deal with any sort of fanboy backlash during puberty & adolescence on top.

 

Im hoping his behavior was the byproduct of teenage years and bitterness. He seems pretty nice from his facebook.

no one is guaranteed success after Star Wars. Hayden hasn't been doing much notable stuff, kinda sad really. I wanted him people he wasn't stiff. (Though he is quite good in shattered glass and life as a house)

Success is found in different ways, Mark Hamill is a superbly talented voice actor and Carrie Fisher is a hilarious writer!

I wish Lloyd the best, as I would for any star wars actor

 

Star Wars did not make his life a living hell; The fans who had nothing better to do than to take cheap shots at the youngest SW actor did.

 

In that one video interview from a while back he doesn't even come across as that bitter. He said he can see why TPM didn't live up to the expectations of many adult viewers, but at the same time he's seen firsthand at convention appearances how much little kids can love the film. If anything he seemed to be giving an indirect "grow up" to over obsessive adult fans more so than blaming Lucas for how things played out in his life. I can see where he's coming from. I'm sometimes surprised how the first two films especially are so often elevated to sacred, Great Film status more so than simple, good, fun space adventures. Also on the blame Lucas front, I think it should be kept in mind that even if the film was a critical smash, Lloyd still probably would've had a lot of crap thrown his way as a teenager. At least from my experience, all Star Wars is pretty low on the cool list for most teenagers.

 

Truly pitiful, the mouth of an overzealous adult, is.[face_alien_1]

 

he really isn't very good in it , but I never blamed him , a child actor's performance is really down to the director .

 

Aside from a three or four moments of wooden acting, I had no problems with Lloyd's performance. He was behaving like a child, not an adult in a child's body.

 

Exactly.

Reality got tweaked by Willis and his little brother, ten years before Jake was even born.

 

It's hard to imagine that Star Wars played an integral role in Fisher's woes. After all, she had a severely negligent father whose scandalous infidelities wreaked havoc on all involved, endured a tumultuous upbringing in the profoundly unhealthy Hollywood limelight, and would be diagnosed bi-polar. At worst, SW just afforded her more money for the drugs she would, in all probability, turn to anyway.

Aside: Although I've disparaged her performance in every SW movie not directed by Irvin Kershner, I admire Fisher for her talent as a writer and her courage amid her personal struggles.

On edit: Before anyone gets offended, I'm not implying that those afflicted with bipolar disorder are fated to abuse narcotics. In the case of Fisher, the abuse seems to have stemmed from a confluence of factors listed above.

 

I just think Jake Lloyd turned out to be one major whiny big baby.

yeah it was a Star Wars movie that he got picked to star in but come on. Learn to have fun with starring in the movie and getting involved in the action that you had to do.

Hell if I was chosen to star in a sci fi flick I would learn to have fun with the role that I was given. Not end up being a whiny little bitch

 

err... what ?

 

It's a reference to the show "Different Strokes". The characters of Willis (Todd Bridges) and Arnold (Gary Coleman) were hot tickets in the 80's until the show ended. But reality wasn't that, reality is one of two things.

1. A lot of the over the top "Star Wars" fans don't like child actors in general. I've seen it with other films with child actors, where they're blasted. Even the good ones.

2. Reality is that Jake Lloyd was a young and upcoming actor at the time. He was not Jodie Foster and Tatum O'Neal, but they were the exceptions to the rule when it came to child actors.

It's easy to say that because you aren't a child actor. You don't know the pressures and what it is like to be one. Child actors have it worse than adult and teenage actors. More so because a bunch of dumbasses decided to lay into him in his personal life, well after the film had come and gone.

 

I feel really bad for him because it is always the parents that push their kids into child acting. Most child actors are screwed up when they get older because they don't live a normal childhood and then can't find work in acting after they lose that 'cuteness' on screen.

Blame his parents on this one, as no 10 year old kid makes a conscious decision to become an actor. His parents saw him as their meal ticket, and now he has to suffer years later.

 

Jake Lloyd posted this on his Facebook fan page:

 

i still think the kid from the sixth sense is the diffinitive child actor. he acted like a kid but he didn't act annoying. he actually knew how to be likable. heck hayden was just as bad as lloyd.

 

I think theres been plenty of good performances by children in movies and tv : Spielberg's stuff , Aliens , T2 , Stand by Me , the girl who play little Amy in Dr. Who is great . Ive just been watching Game of Thrones and theres some great child actors in that .

I just think its down to the right casting and a director who can direct kids .

 

I thought Jake was decent in emotional scenes with Neeson and Pernilla August (she's the one who doesn't get enough credit IMO). It's when he's alone is where the movie can falter. And yes, the lines like "yipee!" don't help either.