“At the age of 9, we can read and understand an article like this”: 25 years ago, this great director condemned the ruthlessness of the young actor of Star Wars 1.

He got the role that was going to launch his career. And yet, fate wanted otherwise. Indeed, when Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace was released, critics were not kind to little Jake Lloyd, then 9 years old, who was chosen from over 3,000 candidates for the coveted role of Anakin Skywalker.

And while her mother recently spoke out and denied that it was the reason she quit acting — indeed, since A phantom threatWe never saw him again Jake Lloyd On screen, except for one film, Madison, in 2005, which he had already made in 1999 – it must not have been too easy for a young boy who was laughed at in the playgrounds.

Ron Howard, angry

At the time, however, some tried to defend him, starting with Ron Howard, the famous director to whom we owe films like Apollo 13 and An Exceptional Man and who is also, and above all, a former child star himself.

Even before release A phantom threatNewsweek magazine actually published an article criticizing their work Jake Lloyd – an article that was not liked at all Ron Howard. And shockingly, he sent a most scathing letter to the journalist responsible on January 14, 1999 to read below.

“Dear Mrs. Cooper:

While your “Buzz Wars, Episode One” article was generally sarcastic and tasteless, the shot at nine-year-old Jake Lloyd was completely irresponsible. The article cites anonymous “insiders” criticizing the nine-year-old’s performance. I have no way of knowing how successful or professional he was during principal photography, but I seriously doubt these “insiders” were involved enough to see the new Stars Wars edited version, because I don’t know if I’ve seen it, and in my opinion, Jake Lloyd is great in the movie (which, by the way, is really amazing).

Movies are certainly subject to public scrutiny, but for Newsweek to attack a child’s play based on hearsay and without even seeing the movie is disgraceful.

As someone who has played professionally from a young age, I can assure you that nine year old Jake can read, understand and feel the utter humiliation of an article like this. However, he may not understand why it was printed, but obviously neither do I. Perhaps someone from your editorial team can try to explain it to him.

With respect,

Ron Howard.“

Mark Hamill is of the same opinion

Ron Howard He is not the only one who defended Jake Lloyd with time. In 2017, during the Sundance Film Festival, the famous interpreter of Luke Skywalker admitted that he was still angry about the treatment of the young boy.

“I’m still angry about the way Jake Lloyd was treated. He was only ten years old then, and yet he did exactly what George asked and expected of him. Trust me, I know how awkward dialogue can be sometimesHe told Vulture.

Regarding the violence of certain criticisms of the prelogue, he added:I didn’t believe the things written about prequels. That is, beyond “I don’t like” or “My childhood is ruined”.“

However, after his release, A phantom threat It was so successful that it even became the second biggest hit of all time after Titanic.

He didn’t stop playing because of Star Wars

After the film, the young boy moved away from the limelight, although he was mocked by children in the playgrounds.

“The other kids were really mean to meHe confessed years later, in 2012, about “Classmates” (via the Daily Mail). “Every time I saw them, they imitated the sound of the lamp. It was completely crazy. My whole school was hell and I had to do 60 interviews a day.“

Jake Lloyd Diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia after dropping out of school in 2008 and experiencing run-ins with the law, he was arrested for speeding in 2015, jailed, then committed to a mental institution.

This year, A phantom threat celebrates its 25th anniversary. In that case, his mother, Lisa, spoke to Scripps News (via Variety ) last March about her son’s mental health issues and dismissed the theory that negative reactions to the film and criticism of his performance were the reason Jake stopped acting.

“People say he quit because of Star Wars. Well, this is not true“, she said. “It had nothing to do with Star Wars. It was more related to our family. And we were leaving. Things were unstable and quite difficult. And Jake didn’t seem to enjoy the audition anymore. He loved filming Star Wars. He had a lot of fun.“

He added:I protected him from negative reactions. He was riding his bicycle outside and playing with his friends. He didn’t know that. He didn’t care. Everyone is doing a great job with it. And it’s kind of disturbing to me because Jake was a little kid when it came out, and he didn’t really feel it because I didn’t let him go online.“

Regarding his diagnosis of schizophrenia, he stated that “It would still happen“: “I believe it was genetic. And his psychiatrist also agrees that Jake was about to become schizophrenic..”

35 years and a passion for Star Wars

Jake Lloyd He celebrated his 35th anniversary on March 5. After suffering depression last year, he is now in the 11th month of an 18-month stay in rehab.

“It works much better than I expected.Lisa said. “He has better relationships with people and is becoming more social, which is really nice. It’s a bit like finding old Jack, because he was always incredibly social until he became schizophrenic.“

Mother and son even celebrated the latter’s birthday by going to the cinema to see Wonka:He really loved her. It was one of the things we couldn’t do when he was off the meds: watch movies. He just didn’t have the attention span.“

She added that Jake was also a fan of Ahsoka from the Star Wars series. “He loves all the new Star Wars. People think Jake hates Star Wars. he loves.“

Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, the rest of the prologue, and the entire Star Wars saga can be found streaming again on Disney+.