Couldn't be happier for this guy...

[@OmnicidalClown1992]

Jake Lloyd didn't deserve the negativity and hatred for his portrayal as Anakin Skywalker. He did the best with what he had, and honestly, wasn't even that bad to begin with.

[@DefileOdds]

Ikr, he was like 6 what's wrong with people.

[@MasterofMonkeys13]

@@DefileOddswhen people are stupid, they tend to do stupid things

[@cthulu8mytoast]

@@DefileOdds People like to bully kids. Especially when they are not their own.

[@AndrewChapman]

I'm glad he seems happier these days than he's been in the past with all the hatred and bullying he got.

[@robertobaird1015]

Both Jake & Ahmed (Jar-Jar’s actor), didn’t deserve all that negativity from the fans. They were just actors doing their job…

[@RLCguy]

The fact that our support of him has contributed to his mental health recovery is fantastic to hear. Remember, there’s always a person on the other side of the screen

[@HabitualJoker]

Well, that’s the least that we could do, given that we were also the reason he went into the spiral in the first place.

[@nyxborne1786]

"Our support of him has contributed to his mental health recovery." My guy if he wasn't allowed online through it, how did you contribute? It was the medical professionals that contributed and help him, not you. Don't ever take their profession for granted.

[@HabitualJoker]

@@nyxborne1786 there are documented cases of him being harassed by fans in public, so his mom is off base there.

[@che17grr]

Guess you didn't pay attention because you didn't contribute at all

[@nyxborne1786]

@HabitualJoker you proved my point. "Our support of him has contributed to his mental recovery" is a false statement. If he was abused and targeted in person as well as online, without being supported in person or online (except from family and medical professionals), how did "our support" possibly contribute to his mental recovery? Yes the support was there, but if he was sheltered, for good fucking reason, then it never reached him. People here easily try to take credit for something that a professional did

[@Gigasius]

Thats honestly really nice to hear, good for him and his family❤

[@DefileOdds]

That poor kid was so unfairly dragged through the mud I honestly didn't expect such a positive outcome, really glad his mom shielded him like a Good Parent and he's getting the love hes deserved. Hell yeah, right on!

[@jamesstewart8663]

What I don't think a lot of the older critics at the time understood, was that me being a kid, nearly the same age as Ani, Jake's acting allowed me to fall into the movie and even imagine myself in Jake's position as Ani in Star Wars. I even had the same hair cut. It really was something special for me. Also Jar Jar was hilarious as a kid, even better as an adult imagining him as a secret Sith Lord.

[@Shadowkey392]

I don’t think it was the critics who did that to him…pretty sure that was the so-called “fans”.

[@Idkwhattoput-p2s]

@@Shadowkey392 Star Wars has one of the worst fanbases in the world.

[@Batbird74]

Bless his heart; I'm so glad he's getting the help he needs. Mental illness is like any other illness, and there is NO shame in it or in getting help. So glad to hear this!

[@nyxborne1786]

I would like to point something out. Mental illness is not like any other illness. The causes of such are less likely to be detected and treated and is not as direct as a regular illness. Plus the majority of mental illnesses cannot be "cured" like some people like to believe. As a man who was diagnosed with autism at the age of 27, a "childhood mental illness" by most professional standards, most mental illnesses are simply learned to live with. They don't get "better" or "cured", we learn how to live with it effectively and do so.

[@37_newts_in_a_costume]

Good for him it's so nice to see a child actor whose story doesn't end in tragedy

[@keithadams7619]

It's such a relief his mum spared him the hatred of certain pricks by limiting his online exposure, luckily those were the days when it was pretty easy to disconnect for a while. It's even more of a relief he's in a much better place mentally, and still enjoying Star Wars and being supported by the REAL fans.

[@isaacgraff8288]

I am glad he is doing better. Good for him.

[@sonicguyver7445]

I'm glad to hear not only that he's doing well but that his mom protected him from the fan backlash. Poor kid didn't need that piled on him. I mean it almost destroyed Ahmed Best, imagine what that could do to a child. I hope he leads a happy, quiet, and content life.

[@WedgeOfSpite]

This makes my heart happy. Schizophrenia is really hard to deal with on its own, much less having a world judging you because you got famous when you were a kid. I wish nothing, but the best to Jake, and if he feels well enough, to go to a SW Celebration and bask in the inevitable love he would rightfully be given.

[@EudaemonYoutube]

I’m glad that the Star Wars fan base is starting to calm down, I think after the sequels and shows a lot of us just gave up on the toxicity that has been in the fandom for a decade or two now and it is actually this magical thing that brings people together again.

[@WetzforLife]

It's more the fans have had so many actually bad movies and shows produced that it's drained all the hate. Hopefully the shows and movies get better since Skeleton crew seems to be making fans happy again.

[@TROOPER235]

I hope he lives a good, long life and gets a chance to be in Star Wars again, what ever form it takes.

[@Alchemic09]

Gave me a little tear.. I am so glad he's doing, and hopefully feeling better too.

[@MadHax-wt5tl]

Very happy to hear this, I felt really sorry for him after hearing all the bad news about the rubbish he went through growing up. Wish Jake all the best going forward.

[@magsky2009]

This young man has been through a lot. I am very happy to hear that he is doing so much better. Great story!!! Some much needed good news.

[@Scott_Silver]

I met him back in the 2000s he worked at PacSun of all places for awhile in our mutual home town, he was a really nice and friendly guy. I’m glad he is doing better, he got a lot of crap in high school from what I heard.

[@AreaMan-et8op]

Dude should have been the most popular kid in high school. How many of his classmates were in a major motion picture much less Star Wars.

[@NoticalMyles]

All the best to him as well. Episode 1 has always been my favorite of the prequels, and I appreciate his performance.

[@tomas.lambert]

Honestly he did a pretty good job acting for a child. I bet none of us could act like that when we were kids

[@johanbjorkman1914]

Loved his portrayal as Anakin.

[@laniemon]

Good for him, also massive props to his mum.

[@trevorberridge6079]

Fantastic news. I wish him continued good mental health. Despite the family saying Star Wars wasn't responsible for his problems, it's still disgusting how some so-called fans reacted to this young boy taking on this important role. They did the same to Ahmed Best and others. We can only hope they have grown up.

[@ignazioacerenza9881]

Hes such a cool dude. I remember watching the interviews of him as an adult and thinking his is the only sane response to the insanity that is being cast as luke's dad in star wars at age 10 or some shit like that.

[@lucaswatanabe9429]

Nice to hear that Jake Lloyd is a lot better. My heart goes out to him and his mother. ❤

[@rileymosman2808]

I'm so happy that he's doing better! That's really lovely news.

[@HemisphereCinema]

People where ruthless on prequels when i was younger , even in tv shows . I thought he did well as a kid actor back in the day but am happy for him.

[@MisterYankou]

One thing I appreciate about Jake Lloyd is that he was the basis for an early mistake for the internet to learn from. I don't think people are nearly so harsh towards child actors these days. It should never have happened at all, but to see how well he's doing now is one hell of a silver lining. 🙌 I also want to point out that he's not obligated to like Star Wars. We should be receiving this news under the safe assumption that he's consuming Star Wars content as part of a therapeutic process. The reasons and manner in which he was disassociating from the franchise were not healthy. We should accept his decision to set Star Wars down if he so chooses.

[@snooze821]

The internet didn't learn anything. They did the same thing to Jack Gleeson from game of thrones, Tom Felton from Harry Potter and Millie Bobbie Brown from Stranger Thing and that's just the child actors. Ahmed Best was an adult and the internet was pushing him to extremely dark places. The mentally ill simply have too much power on the internet and are too easily able to affect others with their disconnected realities.

[@davidkoudelka10]

@@snooze821Wait these people were trying to bully Millie Bobby Brown as well!? For what??? She did her job amazingly! It’s like nothing is ever enough for these people…🙄😒

[@nyxborne1786]

Please xplain how "he was the basis for an early mistake". I was growing up and didn't really have internet access until 2009, so I didn't hear any of the toxicity about this.

[@legomaster9190]

This news actually brought some tears to my eyes. That's so awesome to hear, and I'm so happy for him and his family! When I was younger and had seen the Phantom Menace, I really liked the character of young Anakin. I even wrote some short stories of my own and had the character in pivotal roles in them. That much I was impressed with the acting, the actor and the character as a whole! Wishing him the best!

[@robertortiz-wilson1588]

That's wonderful to hear! God bless and help him in family.

[@dr.virus1295]

Wait, people hated on him cause of the films? You sick people, he's a kid! Glad to hear he's all good now, but still, that should not be acceptable. Any online post anywhere hating on a child actor should be deleted & the account suspended, that is not okay.

[@TheRevanchrist]

show unconditional support and love to anyone who takes the steps to help themselves and more so when they succeed.

[@UncleWilsonProductions]

This is so heartwarming to hear! May the force be with Jake Lloyd, and my God bless him and his family. ❤

[@fuji_man]

Bro did not deserve all the negativity and the bashing, he did his best, and I'm really happy for his mental recovery. Prayers for this man 🙏🙏

[@zendell37]

I just hope all those actors that get crapped on make it to their redemption arc. Its not fair to them that people spew hate online, even as a joke. More power to ya, Jake

[@reubenpx1809]

I didn't know this happened to the actor. Imo he was perfect for lil Ani. He was confident in his skills and bet his life to win the race and those were memorable moments from the movie I watched as a kid. As kids we were more into racing stuff and fighting flying objects so his acting was gold.

[@jrjubach]

We wish him all the best!

[@mommalion7028]

as a fellow sufferer of schizophrenia, i’m glad to hear he’s finding treatment and strategies that are working for him. i always like him. he was a cute kid. 🤗

[@Lemure_Noah]

All the best to Jake! He is our loved young Anakin from here until the end of our civilization!

[@vonleiningen]

Heck yeah, Jake! Keep feeling better, Bro! Having a strong mind and even more supportive fan base... now THAT is podracing!

[@AGuyNamedRicky]

May the Force be with you, Jacob!

[@LoganMangus-d1u]

So glad to hear about this. Also he’s interested in KOTOR so that’s amazing.

[@mikiroony]

I'm happy for you, Jake!

[@rw0dyxer012]

Hell yes I am so glad he is doing so well and doing even better than before.

[@Solvernia]

Can't believe he got bullied. I remember in elementary school how we all fiended over Phantom Menace, he would have been the coolest kid in our school

[@fanofmediastuff269]

Good for you Jake, I’m glad you’re doing better

[@Attentiondificil-h8u]

Him and the prequels don’t deserve the hate man

[@kihayu]

I remember when Episode 1 got a lot of backlash because it wasn't something the fans expected at that time. Now that the universe is much more expanded also the movie is not in a bad light anymore which is a great. It's not the best movie but far better than what some people were saying. With that being said: I'm glad that Jake is doing better and can reconnect with the franchise. Hopefully we can see him on one (or more) of the Star Wars stages this year. I would love to give him the same treatment as Hayden when he came out last year and all of the fans applauded and cried

[@tss3393]

Attaboy Jake! Really glad to hear things are improving for him!

[@uhwaykin]

We love Anakin, and we love Jake.

[@davyr847]

Wish you well Jake, hope you keep doing great

[@bligabliga]

hope all goes well for him, and not just well but amazing.

[@crisco362]

Hes playing the classics. I like this guy.

[@StarMandoForge]

Really good he’s doing well both he & Ahmed didn’t deserve the backlash the got

[@PaulGuy]

Good for him. I hope he gets everything on track and can have a good life from here on out. He's making good choices on the games, too.

[@AreaMan-et8op]

He needs to get into Rogue Squadron! Freaking awesome game.

[@JohnCescato]

Sometimes reservations of hope and progress work together in a family support sense so well for the most part. I live with mental health issues and I can easily understand what Jake and his family are dealing with. We can make changes to ending the stigma against mental health issues with more understanding

[@piknias]

Never understood the hate. He did a great job in a great movie!

[@emikke]

The good Anakin ending. KotOR is just so much better than the movies anyways. I hope they make another one, maybe he could voice a character

[@valhadar1137]

What a good start to the year.

[@Cubert0331]

That makes me happy to hear, always liked young ani, but maybe I'm just biased because I have a child of a similar age so he always warms my heart a bit.

[@djcjr1x1]

Glad to hear he's doing better. Any so called fan that thinks it's ok to ridicule and demean a child needs to take serious look at themselves to see why they would think something so disgusting is ok for them to do.

[@AreaMan-et8op]

Anyone going after a kid has something wrong with them. You don't have a problem with him, you have a problem with yourself.

[@airvibration4350]

happy to hear he is doing better I enjoyed the phantom manace when it got out I was rather young and it was more about the space battles for me at the time

[@TheHawkeye0725]

Glad things worked out for him

[@facuasecas-bp4zj]

Glad he is doing good

[@LiliaArmoury]

I AM SO FREAKING TIRED OF ACTORS BEING TARGETED FOR HARRASSSMENT BECAUSE SOMEONE DIDN'T LIKE A FILM THEY WERE IN!

[@BlackFlash09]

I'm happy for him.

[@jjack232]

I dont get how people could just hate on a kid for putting their all into it, it was George's vision. he never deserved the backlash he recieved for doing his job.

[@hotmixal]

may the force be with you

[@Blackout-Official-edits]

I’m glad Jake is in good terms with Star Wars again.

[@jordanhendrix2619]

I’m glad his mom shielded him, some of the things people said were taken too far.

[@walnzell9328]

While it's true he was never exposed to the hate for The Phantom Menace and his performance, that time where we ridiculed a young boy for doing his best is something we can never take back. We have failed you, Anakin. We have failed you.

[@garyv2498]

Wow that's good news. Thanks for sharing.

[@daschwah]

Glad he and Hayden and Ahmed endured long enough to see the scumbag fans who tried to destroy them be replaced by a generation of kids who grew up on the PT. There’s plenty of subhuman idiots trying to infect the community with their cancer brand of fandom these days, but at least this demonstrates that there’s some decency and hope even among the death threats and hate.

[@peves-]

It's simple, you either like star wars or you don't. The "elitists" are not true fans because they don't allow themselves to open their minds to anything other than episodes 4-6 and that's stupid. They will accept Ewoks but Gungans are an atrocity? Get a life.

[@nerdock4747]

My guy, they've all thanked the fans for their support. The negative comments came from the movie critics of the time and Ahmed and Jake both said this very recently. Thank you for the sanctimonious (and incorrect) sermon.

[@AlexBarbu]

Thanks for the good news!

[@SvendleBerries]

Thats excellent to hear :D And its nice to know that I might have, at some point, ran past Anakin whilst playing SWTOR lol

[@imkeerock]

Good for Jake! That's awesome!

[@carmgitto]

YTF would anyone hate on a 9 year old for bad acting? Leave the guy alone.

[@Lyxh]

He plays SWTOR??? I love him!

[@mmo5366]

Jake was just a kid doing his best with what was asked of him. He can’t be blamed- any kid who was offered the role of Anakin Skywalker in an episodic movie would be beyond belief. It’s all on George, much like Jar Jar Blunts.

[@derekmccluskey4931]

For a child actor playing well, a child. He did great in Star Wars and Jingle All The Way. I heard about the backlash and hate he got for Star Wars. I was personally pissed off that the internet picked on a kid. The internet is cruel because people can hide behind a keyboard and be awful. I had heard all the hate he got messed him up from teasing. Doesn't help that he was a kid and kids are cruel. People are awful in general, but no kid deserves abuse. Whether it's from your peers or jerks online. In the future, any of you who read this know that anything you say or do to someone can mess them up. Bullying can end someone in therapy or make them lose the will to live. Be better, guys. 😮‍💨

[@MasterofMonkeys13]

I dont get why people hate and death threat actors. The only exception is if they are very bad people but that would just be acceptable for hate and not freaking death threats

[@Pythxn-_-]

Especially for a kid

[@Saelestria-jd3uq]

"There's hope for you yet"

[@Cosecant18]

Go Jake ! Be well and happy !

[@HappyBirthdayRoboto]

Good, I hope he'll be OK.

[@jish55]

i'm so happy to hear he's doing better, cause the fans had no right to treat him as they did back in the day, especially when he was a child. I get that you can be upset with how a character was portrayed, but don't ever go after the actors for just doing their jobs.

[@dankryst]

I love phantom menace it had some great action sequences fights and awesome music .Jake Lloyd was great in it he did not deserve the backlash he received and neither did Ahmed Best . At least back then the franchise had some fun movies .

[@RaptorJesus.]

He was the kid in every movie back then, notably my favourite Xmas movie Jingle All The Way! He wasn't a bad kid-actor his role just wasn't very good in phantom menace, get any kid to say "I'll try spinning that's a good trick" while in a warzone and it will still be terrible : P

[@empty_melodies]

Happy to hear this

[@CDHfilms]

James Earl Jones and David Prowse would be so proud!

[@GoronCityOfficialBoneyard]

Godspeed Dr. Harvey

[@lucamarsiglia7284]

another win

[@allidoisme321]

Good for him 👏🏾

[@bobafett4265]

That's kinda sweet hearing Jake Lloyd the Kid Anakin Skywalker actor has made peace with Star Wars after it ruined his life and got his life together, maybe he'll get involved in a Star Wars project of sorts, hell maybe even being a spokesman for Star Wars would be cool too.

[@PirateOfTheNorth]

He was so cute as Anikin

[@coodoo17]

Hell yeah, Force Unleashed ruled

[@Maikigai]

Well that's happy news. I've always heard he need therapy because of SW fans bullying him over his role and such, but his mom says that's not true at all and I'm very happy about that. I still hate that he's had problems outside of all that, but super happy he's doing better.

[@VicHD]

Wishing Jake the best. The fans were too hard on him.

[@lydia1634]

The Back Focus did a video on how he did not get the support he ought to have had with acting on The Phantom Menace. Would highly recommend it. It really wasn't his fault.

[@TedSchoenling]

always felt for him. Episode 1 wasn't his problem. George really needed to let go a bit and let somebody help him make dialog more organic and interesting.

[@robertortiz-wilson1588]

Trurh.

[@Griggoh]

Actually he openly talks about that he hates writing dialogue and that there has always been different people helping him to fix it.

[@zombieman3011]

Screw all the boomers who hated the prequel actors. Buncha old farts ruining the world and everything we love. I could never picture anyone but Jake Lloyd as young Ani, and never anyone but Hayden for young adult Ani