Jake Lloyd Talks 'Star Wars: Episode I' Ten Years Later
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Fandom, 20th Century Fox, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels
After the success (financial, anyway) of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace back in 1999, Jake Lloyd (young Anakin Skywalker) pretty much took a break from screen acting to do all that growing up.Well, Sci-Fi Pi -- the SciFi Channel's blog Down Under, where it's not called SyFy; lucky them -- managed an interview with Lloyd at Australia's Supanova pop culture expo about starring in the prequel and his life in the decade after, and I found it to be a brief but telling look at how childhood stardom plays out today.
On the one hand, he's clearly grateful to have had the opportunity to be part of something so big, but on the other, it seems to be that one thing that his high school and college peers tend to harp on, to a clearly wearying extent. I certainly wouldn't begrudge him his current year-long hiatus from school if that's what he still has to put up with. What do you think about the interview?
Thanks to Drew over at Hitfix for pointing this out.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-22-2009 @ 2:36PM
emersondartagnan said...
I actually am a senior at the high school he went to. He was friends with one of my friend's brothers and it was always a big deal that he was Anakin. He worked at PacSun and it was so weird to think that young Darth Vader worked there. I can't even imagine how hard it is for him.
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7-22-2009 @ 2:58PM
jam said...
weird, i was wondering what the guy was doing just yesterday.
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7-22-2009 @ 4:07PM
Seher said...
i think the timing of the interview is very bad, he's clearly at a turning point in his life, still choosing. The fact that he played young Vader may only make things harder for him now, in my opinion.
The fact that he's been part of Star Wars seems to put some kind of imaginary pressure on him and his choices when people dont really care...
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7-22-2009 @ 10:25PM
paul said...
Ideally he should get another part in something so it'll begin to eclipse the public's memory of this event in his life. Truthfully though, he looks like a manager down at the local Whataburger, so learn to bare it gracefully, because podner, let's face it, you're no Brad Pitt (get thee to television).
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7-23-2009 @ 2:25AM
Cray said...
We never really think about the pressure an actor might feel after being in a film that has so much expectations. I can only imagine it's harder for child actors as they probably don't even know how to respond to the pressure.
I think film-makers need to be wary of the expectations and hype of the roles they cast actors in, especially child actors. I think acting talent alone or typecasting shouldn't be the driving factors of casting child actors. I think film-makers need to look for children who can see past their current role and handle the pressure of success as well as brutal failure.
I think Haley Joel Osment should have been casted as Anakin Skywalker in Phantom Menace. Not only is he a better actor but he handled the pressure of critical films very well (at least from what i've seen).
I also think Keira knightley was miscasted and should have been Queen Padmé Amidala. She has more personable screen presence and obviously handled the pressure very well as child actor.
I realize of course, film-makers don't feel obligated to protect actor's emotional well-being and their future career as actor, But I tell you it's the actor who can handle the pressure help sustain the quality of older films. Ask yourself would RAIDER OF THE LOST ARK be as good as it is considered if if Harrison Ford buckled from the pressure like Jake Lloyd ? So I really do believe an actor isn't just being casted for a particular role, but also a permanent spokesperson for the film's future.
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7-25-2009 @ 1:36PM
H. Marie said...
In Cray's last paragraph, he compared Harrison Ford's lasting ability in the entertainment world to this young actor buckling under the pressure. Remember, Harrison was an adult, possibly in his late thirties, when he became very popular. Jake Lloyd was only ten! In Jake's interview, It didn't appear to me that he buckled from any pressure. He seemed like a mature, well-spoken and articulate twenty year old who was honest and open in his comments, a rarity in celebrities. I wish Jake the best!
7-31-2009 @ 12:26AM
Mospeada said...
Exactly, how can we compare 38 year old Harrison Ford, who'd been in a dozen movies including, ahem, two STAR WARS movies, to a 10 year old kid dealing with the critical backlash over his performance in a blockbuster film. He didn't write it, he was a little kid!
And as for Haley Joel Osment handling his fame well...Jake Lloyd hasn't been arrested for driving while high yet, has he?
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8-02-2009 @ 12:45PM
Cray said...
Okay so it wasn't a good comparison of 38 year old to a 10 year old. My point was more about pressure of being an actor to major franchise.. Sure Jake Lloyd might've done extremely well in his casting debut with Lucasfilm, but I honestly don't think the studio looked beyond the stage to see if Jake was the right guy to be spokesperson for the STAR WARS franchise. I think they should have casted a more experienced child-actor.