Jingle All The Way child star’s sad downfall after Hollywood made life a ‘living hell’

Jake Lloyd was just seven years old when he got his breakout role in Hollywood starring alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in Jingle All the Way.

The former child star played the Austrian actor’s adorable on-screen son Jamie in the hit 1996 Christmas film, which sees two rival dads hilariously competing to buy an action-man figure for their sons. And just a few years later Jake cemented his Hollywood fame when he was cast as a young Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars : Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace.

But these days he looks unrecognisable from the cute blonde-haired blue-eyed 90s child star he once was after he turned his back on Hollywood and ended up leading a tragic life that has seen him face a difficult diagnosis, multiple run-ins with the law and a heartbreaking loss. The Phantom Menace was one of the most highly-anticipated film releases in 1999 but Jake’s role was brutally criticised by Star Wars fanatics.

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Jake revealed he struggled to cope with his newfound fame, which he claims also led to him being constantly bullied in school “My entire school life was really a living hell, and I had to do up to 60 interviews a day,” he told BlackBook in 2012.

He added: “Other children were really mean to me…They would make the sound of the lightsaber every time they saw me. It was totally mad.” Jake quickly realised he didn’t enjoy acting.

“I’ve learned to hate it when the cameras are pointed at me,” he said. In 2001 Jake quit acting for good after filming Madison, the final movie he appeared in, and hasn’t ever returned to the big screen.

Since his departure from Hollywood, the now 34-year-old has led a turbulent life. He initially moved to Chicago to study film at Columbia College but started getting in trouble with the law in 2015 when police were called to his mum’s house to a report of an assault.

According to TMZ, Jake’s mother, Lisa Lloyd, said that he’d been diagnosed with schizophrenia, a long-term mental health condition, and hadn’t been taking his medication at the time. She reportedly declined to press charges and told the outlet Jake had been showing signs of schizophrenia since he was 19 and wasn’t a violent person.

But just a few months later Jake got into trouble again when he was arrested for leading police on a 25-mile “high-speed chase” that exceeded 100 miles per hour in South Carolina and came to an end when he collided into some trees. According to his arrest record, Jake ran a red light and sped away from cops trying to pull him over before crashing through a fence and into a wooded area.

He was put behind bars after being charged with reckless driving, failure to stop and driving without a licence. But after spending 10 months behind bars Jake was moved to a psychiatric facility due to his schizophrenia diagnosis.

Jake’s mother spoke to TMZ at the time and said authorities concluded he needed help more than punishment. She also said she’d already noticed an improvement in his personality.

But just a few years later the family suffered a heartbreaking loss when Jake’s younger sister, Madison, died. The 26-year-old passed away peacefully in her sleep on July 16, 2018, Geek News Now reports. Jake’s mum told the outlet in 2020 that Madison’s death had been “shattering” to both her and Jake.

In a statement about how Jake has been doing since his arrest and the death of his sister, Lisa said: “Jake has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, but unfortunately he also has a symptom called anosognosia which causes a lack of insight into his illness. This only adds to the struggle he faces, which has been very difficult after the tragic loss of his younger sister, Madison.”

She added: “He has moved closer to his family and we are all working hard to help him with this. He is still a kind and caring person and we hope to have him back to his fun and entertaining self as soon as possible. Jake will continue to make progress with the love and support you continue to show.”

Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk