With "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" coming to theaters this Friday, I'm in a Jedi state of mind. And that got me to thinking about Jake Lloyd, the kid who played Anakin Skywalker in the first of the "Stars Wars" prequels, "The Phantom Menace." 
Lloyd had appeared in episodes of "E.R." and "The Pretender" and movies like "Jingle All the Way" before he won the role of the kid destined to become Darth Vader. He was 10-years-old when "Phantom Menace" was released. And not long after, he became the second most mocked character in the movie, right behind the downright reviled Jar Jar Binks.
It wasn't entirely Lloyd's fault. True, his performance wasn't exactly convincing. But he was young and working under George Lucas, a director famous for giving actors two pieces of guidance: "Faster! More intense!"
So what happened to Jake Lloyd? According to imdb, he appeared in a small movie called "Madison,"and has contributed vocals to some "Star Wars" video games. Last year, he graduated from high school in Indiana and -- if Wikipedia isn't lying to us, and it might be -- he is currently a film and video major at Columbia College Chicago. Here is a semi-recent photo. Honestly, he doesn't like he's spent a day on the Dark Side of the Force.
Rich or Rehab appears every Tuesday morning on Strollerderby.
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