Jake Lloyd - Now Discussing 'Ten Years After TPM'

The kid in 6th sense, and the one who was in Gladiator and Unbreakable, were both very good. But they acted like adults.

Huh? The kid in 'Sith Sense', yes. But not 'Unbreakable'. He was a kid, but a kid with fairly good acting. He was great not only for the typical kid scenes, but when he became slightly disturbing, like the scene where he tried to shoot David Dunn because he believed Elijah's theory about Dunn being some sort of superhero. Love that scene, and for me that's what I'd like to see in a little Anakin: not Vader yet, at the same time he doesn't go around shouting "Yippie!"

And speaking of that scene, it had some of the funniest stuff in 'Unbreakable' as the kid's parents tried to persuade him to drop the gun.

David: "And friends don't...they don't shoot each other, do they Audrey?"

Audrey: "No shooting friends, Joseph"

 

Jake was more like a kid though.

 

Here is a question What if we didn't know that Anakin was going to turn into Darth Vader...would people still be bashing all the lines that Anakin says ??? I think people forget that your seeing the begining of a story. GL has already shown us the Ending now we are seeing the begining. I think its interesting and a great story that shows how someone that is innocent and kind can turn into someone very evil.

 

You know what nailed TPM as one of my favourite films? Jake Lloyd as Anakin.

Whats all this stuff about "Yippee" not being a Vader trait? We aren't seeing Vader here, we are seeing a young child who will eventually become Vader. Besides if Anakin says "Yippee" it doesn't matter because he's a young kid.

Anyway the fact is JL did the performance of Anakin totally right IMHO, he showed us an innocent and sweet kid. In context of the saga as this is the beginning, I don't think anyone could imagine him ever being Darth Vader, its inconceivable. Thats the magic of his performance to me.

Jake Lloyd did a good job and he was perfect as Anakin. IMHO

 

The problem with "Yippie" for me (can't speak for the rest) was that it was just a shout, no emotion behind it. I for one felt it to be artificial. Just contrast with Han Solo's shout as the Millennium Falcon makes it dramatic reappareance in order to help Luker against Darth Vader and his TIE fighters. That had emotion in it, and we the audience were shouting with joy as well! The "Yippie" just didn't connect to me.

And that is GL's fault I suppose, but Lloyd as the actor is at fault as well. I've seen the Harry Potter kids make similar cheers and cries that I can connect with, that felt real to me, rather than just some "Yippie!". So the whole "Hey, he's a kid, give him a break idea" is nonsense to me, 'cos there are other child actors who can perform better.

 

I thought that Jake Lloyd was very cute and for the part he was given he did it very well. but if you ask me about the script and the lines he was given I did not like it,but he was still good.

 

Hate leads to suffering.

There is a a part in "The Beginning" doccumentary where Jake mis-pronounces Couruscant. George tells him it is all right, and Jake just looks so sad when he says: "no, everyone will laugh."

When some people started spouting their utter contempt towards his performance, it made me feel even worse. I think some people are just a little too insensitive about things like that, and it embarasses me as a human being.

 

I really liked Jake Lloyd,I thought he did he's part good

 

I don't think anyone here has sputtered any contempt towards Lloyd. Most of the people who have problems with the performance seem to agree that it was Lucas's fault, not Lloyd's. I guess I'm in that group as well. While I believe Lloyd could have been better, and that there could certainly have been better choices for the role, ultimately, it's my opinion that when dealing with young actors, much of the burden of their performance falls upon the director and/or acting coach to communicate what exactly the correct emotions needed for a given scene are.

Speaking of which, does anyone know if there was an acting coach hired to help Lloyd in his scenes?

 

I don't see what was so bad about his performance, no matter who you blame for it.

 

Same here, Go-Mer.

And as you reminded me with the TPM "The Beginning" doc, its sad that some hate Jake Lloyd for his performance when he was just doing his best

 

Well, I think the problem is due to George Lucas. It's very hard to direct children, and there are only a few directors out there who can do it. Unfortunately, George Lucas isn't one of those people.

 

The whole point is there wasn't a "problem" with Jake's performance.

 

But there was a problem with George's direction. Just what I was about to say, Go-Mer-Tonic.

 

The whole point is there wasn't a "problem" with Jake's performance.

That's just your opinion, not a fact. In my opinion, he came off as pretty lifeless, even with the yippies and such. It just wasn't convincing, and it sure didn't make me like him at all.

 

"I agree that saying 'yipee' isnt quite a Darth Vader trait. "

But he wasn't playing Vader he was playing a 9 year old kid and he did that really well.

I think the problem for a lot of people is that fact that Anakin was 9 years old. I don't think it had much to do with Jakes acting.

A lot of people wanted an older Anakin, dressed in a trenchcoat and shades saying "Whoah! Guns....lots og guns." which would have been pathetic.

 

How can they have wanted that when The Matrix was released a long time after The Phantom Menace? And really, I don't think anybody on this message board wanted that at all. If I think about it, I suppose I wanted a slightly angsty, Sixth Sense/The Shining/The Omen type kid, with a splash of Luke and Leia's personality thrown in too. That's how I saw Anakin, but sadly, we didn't get that.

 

Whats all this stuff about "Yippee" not being a Vader trait? We aren't seeing Vader here, we are seeing a young child who will eventually become Vader. Besides if Anakin says "Yippee" it doesn't matter because he's a young kid.

Anyway the fact is JL did the performance of Anakin totally right IMHO, he showed us an innocent and sweet kid. In context of the saga as this is the beginning, I don't think anyone could imagine him ever being Darth Vader, its inconceivable. Thats the magic of his performance to me.

Agreed!

 

Sorry if I wasn't as clear about this as I could have been...

Jake's performance was fine, which also refelcts well on Lucas' directing style.

 

i dont hate Jake Lloyd. He was wrong for the part, his dialogue was awful, he was directed poorly, and he did not have the acting skills of other 9 year old actors.

none of that is Jake Lloyd's fault. he was just the wrong kid for the job. there are plenty of 9 year old actor's who could have done the job, but Lucas made his choice and wrong or right it's his decision, so blame Lucas, not Lloyd.

 

Who's to blame? Jake did a great job, he was fine for the part, and Lucas directed him well.

 

No, saying "Yippee!" is not a Vader trait. But he isn't Vader yet. He's YEARS away from being Vader. And I don't see why it's so disgraceful for a 9-year-old boy to say "Yippee!" when we see grown men yelling "Yahoo!" and "Yeeha!" in the OT.

I think Jake did a good job. He isn't the best child actor out there, but neither is he the worst. Lucas saw what he was looking for in him -- a natural, unforced quality.

One of my favorite parts in the "Beginning" documentary is when Lucas is talking about Jake's performance while they're taking a break from filming the dinner scene; then the camera cuts to Jake, crouching and playing in the sand. It's such a "kid" thing to do.

Lucas wanted a boy that you could believe would know nothing of greed and gave without thought of reward. He found that boy in Jake. While Haley Joel Osment may have been right for Cole Sear in "Sixth Sense," he was not right for Anakin in TPM.

 

[image=http://members.aol.com/nearysepiphany/images/thehorrorthehorror3%20copy.jpg]
THE HORROR....THE HORROR

 

Nice picture. It perfectly illustrates how far out of proportion the anti-Jake sentiment can take it.

 

I don't get it. What the hell is that image in aid of, and more importantly, why would anyone waste their time making it?