Casting Anakin Skywalker. In the video you can see Jake Lloyd, Michael Angarano, Devin Michaels (?) and Justin Berfield. I found the Devon kid of IMDb - www.imdb.com/name/nm0584104/ He's been in some TV movies and TV shows.
“I’m still mad about how people treated Jake Lloyd, he was ten years old, that boy, and he did exactly what George wanted him to do. Believe me, I understand clunky dialogue.” -Mark Hamill
Macaulay culkin was 8 when he did home alone and nailed it. There’s been plenty of great kid actors don’t try to say they don’t understand material. Truth is Lloyd just didn’t have it tough pill to swallow.
2:50 Boy #1. Natalie: tepid. 2:58 Boy #2. Totally zoned out. 3:05 Boy #3. Hello! What happened there? She's got all sorts of gigglies with him. Looks like someone's got a boy crush! At 3:22 - he's got a little future-Darth going on there too. Lucas picked the wrong kid.
@@renascitur7051 it was meant in a very different way. It's the "now listen mister, I'm almost a grown up too!" Why the hell would Starwars surface around that idea of flirt. Another thing is the actors, are the same age, so it shouldn't come to any hurt offended persons harm that one is 12 and the other is 20 when they are in reality the near same age.
I think Mark Hamill actually described it like that in an old interview, about the shooting of the first Star Wars. George always sounded like he was about to burst into tears.
@@cowboydan507 I feel like a big portion of the problem is that George Lucas is necessarily not very good at directing. I think he’s a genius when it comes to creating, but as far as expressing himself, he doesn’t seem to really put a lot of enthusiasm or detail into what is really needed for the film, which is why so much of the performances especially in the prequels come across as wooden unless you’re an experience actor like Ian McGregor or Christopher Lee who did the best of what they had to work with for newcomers like Jake Lloyd and Hayden Christian they were just doing what they were told and probably weren’t given a lot of opportunity for multiple takes to get the best performance.
Dog when I say I laughed... I laughed so hard. Your comment has now made me comment in hopes that you will see this and know how much joy you have brought me. God belss
i dont understand why jake got so much hate, he was ten years old, he was an amazing actor for such a young age. you could see when he was auditioning a scene with natalie and the two other boys were as well, he had the most expression and looked like he knew what he was doing. he tampered with the props, spoke with expression and optimism like a little boy would. the other two boys were kind of bland, especially the second kid. he was everything anakin skywalker would've been as a young boy. and just saying young actor are hard to find!
@@creamcheese7845 it wasn’t really the fans, it was just dumbass kids that fuckin bullied him. Anybody with common sense and a mature enough mindset will find no reason to bully that actor for his role. Kid played the role of a kid in a movie loved by pretty much every kid who dreams of living in that universe. 100% they were just jealous punks and I feel bad for him and his family. Dude could’ve had a legendary legacy with his character like Mark with Luke, Ewan with Obi Wan, or Ray Park with Darth Maul. He mostly has bs and depressing memories with Anakin compared to what Hayden went through.
It’s fkn sad, I can never imagine Ani with a face other than Jack’s , those other two were lucky that they didn’t get the role and Jack was a better actor, Jack was bullied even though he was the best choice.
What I find ironic about this is that of the 4 boys in the videos, neither of the 2 that ended up being successful actors were the 1 that got the part. I think the kid who got it was actually unlucky.
I can see why Jake got the role, but the 3rd kid's serious yet sad tone when saying "I won't alway be" was perfect given Anakin's fate later in the series
@@adilns14912 Jake was the best choice for this role because Anakin is supposed to start innocent in order to make his downfall more tragic, BUT the blonde boy is easily the best actor in a vacuum. To say he "didn't have an expression" is s disservice to his delivery of the line. He gave a subtle serious yet sad performance with his line.
What fanboys did to Jake Lloyd and Hayden Christensen in the years following their performances is completely unforgivable. The weight of a bad script should not fall on the shoulders of a boy and a young man.
I feel bad for the 26 year old Jake Lloyd, it is utterly unfair and cruel that people on the internet try to judge his life by a fleeting movie role he had when he was ten. It is pretty much bullying a young man for no damn reason.
+Speegs23 Well, maybe he shouldn't have gleefully and willfully ruined an entire saga and legacy. So many of us loved Star Wars, and he knew it when he auditioned. I wouldn't be surprised if he purposely killed star wars. This kid makes me so sad, he doesn't deserve this hate. I wonder what his mother thinks? These auditions are the children who could have been anakin, except jake lloyd ruined it.
+Ruston Ashbury The movies would've been bad no matter what, even Liam Neeson and Samuel L Jackson were wooden and uninspired, the material was a turkey.
+Ruston Ashbury You're a fucking moron, he was fucking ten. He didn't ruin a damned thing, and he was only in one of the three prequel movies, you idiotic dunce.
The Star Wars fandom literally ruined Jake Lloyd's life, I think we all need to take a step back and look at how we criticize the actors involved. We can't let our passion turn into us being ugly human beings.
@@alexanderchristopher6237 yeah, they're literally writing paragraphs, how Star Wars is ruined, how J.J. Arbrams, Rian Johnson, Kathleen Keneddy should kiII themselves. Like chill, it's just a movie
@@Saigonas I don't like the sequel trilogy, but I respect who like it. I like star wars so much, it makes a big difference in my life, but I can' t say I will kill someone just because they did something that I didn't like... TROS was bad for me because it tries to undo everything that was made in TLJ (I don't like TLJ), and they made it because the fans didn't like... Sorry for my English and grammatical mistakes
I appreciate Jake Lloyd for what he did for Anakin, I think he was brilliant! Anakin was not supposed to be dark from day one, at this point he’s just a little boy who’s hoping to realize some of his dreams. That’s what makes his story tragic, the events in his life highly contribute to what he will become
3:27 "Natalie had to look like carrie Fisher and Anakin had to look like Mark Hamill. I was matching parents to children." Too bad they didn't bother with that when they cast Adam Driver as Kylo Ren...
Yeah there is another set of behind the scenes videos, I think it might be in The People vs George Lucas, it shows more test screening and everyone agreeing on the other blonde kid I think (as he genuinely does waaay better in what they show there) but George comes in and overules cause Jakey boy has been in a feature film before and George wants the easier job. Big mistake I think.
Drake that’s your opinion.. I think the prequels were a good and I’ve been watched Starwars in release order... this is just my own opinion and your entitled to your own... in not saying that mien is better than yours...
Reel Skylar I’m not sure what I was thinking when I wrote that, but I agree that the prequels were very enjoyable and anakin, the way he is, is perfect but the phantom menace was not a good Star Wars movie when compared with the others. 2 is important and interesting but slow and 3 is my favorite movie of all 6
That's a good flex. My related flex is that I met the actor of Jocosta Nu at none other than my grandma's house... they knew each other from theatre or something
When comparing jake to the other kids cast he really stood out! The way that he was fiddling with stuff and utilising the probs, his facial expressions, he was quite a good actor!
+BRockandriffs That was terrible. He was too dark. The whole point is that Anakin was a very loving child, and it's the fear of losing those he held dear that made him go to the dark side. Plus the kid's delivery of that line was terrible. It was monotone. That kid was way too melancholic.
+NateMantle I liked the melancholy as it makes it believable that such a child would turn to the dark side. Of course the happy side is necessary. But I feel that lines such as those could have been really poignant in the end product but turned out pretty poorly.
RazaGaming-Destiny Mmmm No. the third kid (denim jacket) was perfect for the role. Jake made me feel sick during the movie first time round. it just felt too fake to me. I could see the Blonde kid as not only a young anakin but also a young Darth Vader, with aspirations and goals far greater than that of a normal Jedi, which is after all thee person anakin Skywalker was meant to be
I like Jake Lloyd... but right now I'm kind of pissed they didn't choose the blonde kid lol He just delivered the lines with some kind of mix between mystery and melancholy, he came close to what I would imagine Vader as a kid. But oh well, seems George had something else in mind.
Charlotte Torres Exactly. There was a sense of potential evil within the kid that could have played off well considering he was to become Vader. That said, he delivered his lines a little stiltedly and not quite natural. I'm sure they could have trained that out though.
But I think the point was that he didn't start out dark or evil at all, but was just a kindhearted young boy. It was his fear of loss, first of his mother and then Padme, as well as the great pride and sense of entitlement that Palpatine fostered in him that turned him to the dark side
@@GreenAshR47 Definitely. That cutesy-sweet Jake Lloyd delivery just didn't come across as being a potential Darth Vader at all compared to the blonde kid. The blonde kid delivered his line with a slight element of cold darkness. That's the kind of personality that can naturally character arc into Darth Vader.
@@BLTKellys Too obvious? You mean, we were supposed to be surprised? Dude this is Darth Vader, the dark inner self should be brewing right here already.
Yeah. There were definitely some improvements that could've been made to the acting, but George was right there, and could've told him "Hey Jake, we're gonna do this again, I'd like to you to put a slightly sad, but annoyed tone in the "I'm a person" line." Because directors don't have to say please. That's kind of their role is telling you how to do what.
Jake is just annoying but I blame George more than anything coming up with such crap dialogue. The other blonde kid seemed more normal and less annoying, which is what was really needed for such crap dialogue.
Honestly, I don't believe George meant to, per se, but kids teased Jake and as he got older depression and schizophrenia dominated his life. It's so sad. He was a great actor. I loved him jingle all the way!
You have to give Jake Lloyd credit, he was a great child actor. Every line he says is so natural, almost as though he's not reading from a script. Many professional adult actors struggle to achieve this
devin was the best choice. Even though jake showed a more natural side, devin can actually act. He has that look that screams young anakin. I would have just told devin to not act so mellow and act more innocent. A good actor can always do both
Ken Lopez These clips didn't show any talent in acting from Devin though. It's a reason those lines were delivered so dull and mellow, because he can't act. And why did Jake deliver them more naturally? Because he can act.
After watching all the boys audition with Jake there was just this charisma he added into his audition that was impossible too notice. The other boys were so monotone that u could tell they would become darth vader with Jake u least expected it and I think that's what George was looking for
Jake literally made the convo seem normal, he somehow kept it natural like a kid but it’s just the dialogue. Not his fault his lines were terrible but his performance was as great as can be considering the script
Am I missing something? Why do people actually think the blonde haired kid is better? He's not horrible but he has no emotion when delivering those lines. "He's darker, like Anakin became" yes hence BECAME. He wasn't supposed to be dark from day one. That would have been so boring to see. Jake, while not a perfect actor, delivered his lines with nuance and clear understanding of utilizing facial expressions. I believed him more from just these reads. Say what you will about the first film and the prequels as a whole, but that kid was definitely the better choice out of the three.
It was only that one line that was dark and it would’ve made more sense for him to be anakin yes he was innocent but he was also a slave that was mistreated of course he would have some darkness behind him I mean anakin was even somewhat dark as a young padawan and the kid seemed a little cocky that’s literally all of the traits of anakin
Episode 1: Hm... so, we should cast actors for Padme and Anakin. Padme must look like Carrie Fisher (Leia) and Anakin like Mark Hamill (Luke) Episode 7: Nah. Adam Driver will be son of Han and Leia. Easy.
imo, jake lloyd was definitely the best out of them for the role. the other blonde kid was good, but a little too unnerving lol. and also notice how jake lloyd was fidgeting with the stuff around him. he made it look like he was actually thinking of the lines instead of just reciting them.
Jake loyd did the best its explained that anakin was a humble boy, in a comic leia reads shmis diary and reads about all the good deeds anakin had done as a child. He even protected child slaves from non slaved childs that bullied them,jake was the best.
With the script that they had to perform.. I can guarantee If the blonde kid got it we would all be watching this and scratching our heads why Jake did not get it.
2:52 Jake Lloyd stood out. All three boys were clearly nervous around Natalie Portman. Lloyd handles it by tinkering with props, like the builder his character should be. The other two look her in the eye, but visibly draw back sometimes. Jake also really nailed those facial expressions on the “I won’t always be” line!
The blonde kid should have gotten the part. Jake's not a bad kid actor, but the blonde kid had something unique, secretive about his expressions. Like, that's how a kid, who has an upcoming dark future should look. Part of it they just made Anakin WAY to innocent as a kid. They should have made him into a more silent, creative, yet slighly disturbed and secretive.
+Jacob dow He is supposed to be an innocent sweet kid. He's not supposed to be a little evil from the beginning. The prequels are there to show Anakin's way from the sweet little kid they found on Tatooine, to becoming Darth Vader. The reason he became "evil" and joined Palpatine was because he offered him help when he was afraid of losing Padme, and Palpatine trusted him more than the Jedi council did. As you remember, they let him be on the council but didn't make him a master.
+Smittz He isn't supposed to be an innocent kid, though. Remember, he was a child slave. If you're a nine year old kid and you grow up knowing you're a slave, it will have an effect on how you view the world and other human beings. George messed up. Role should have gone to Devon, and it would have made the movie thirty percent better quite easily.
Nexus Verbal If he was just a tough kid going around looking like an asshole and being arrogant right from the start, the character would have no development. But that's just my opinion and i respect that you would have liked Devon better. And Anakin was obviously supposed to be an innocent kid when George portrays him as an innocent kid.
Everytime I watch this I keep thinking that blonde kid seems perfect. Gives me the chills when he says "I won't always be." It immediately cues up the that sad whistling imperial theme when Vader dies.
"Devon Michael" to me would've been a better fit. He's got more serious demeanor to him and looks the part. Jake still did a great job, but that Devon kid had chops!
2:51 Jake doesn't even look at her... 2:59 Poor kid sounds like he's confessing a crime... "All my life". 3:05 The Mark Hamill looking Child....Nails it, gives Natalie enough for her to react too.... 3:20 Devin gave me chills when he said that line...
+StarWarsStory jake doesn't look at her? what exactly is he saying that would warrant him having to look at her.. not looking at her shows the characters conviction, determination and focus. Looking at her would imply that he is trying to CONVINCE her - but he already knows his path and needs to convince no one.
vitamincisgoodforme I don't think Lloyd's performance was bad, he played the character exactly as he was supposed to, otherwise he would have been directed different or fired. But looking at the line up here, I just think the other kid would have raised hairs on the back of fans necks :P
Jake Lloyd is a good child actor. I don't understand why people was so rude to him. Here, from the first shot, he is the one with the clearest voice and clarity of speech.
+Anthony Blackwood But if they had casted a teenager then they would find Episode II and III difficult because they are like 5-6 years after Episode I.
To all of you who say Jake Lloyd is a terrible actor it's not his fault it was just bad script writing and hearing what he had to go through afterwards especially with all the bullying he received and what he's going through now I hope he can recover and get his life back on track.
Just watching the I’m a pilot audition, you can already tell who has enough acting and character to play an Anakin, Jake Lloyd does it so much better then all the othar actors.
I do think Devon Michael (the other blond boy) was the better choice. He not only looks to be closer in appearance to Hayden Christiansen and Mark Hamill than Jake, but he fits the character so much better. Little Anakin as this energetic and happy-go-lucky kid didn’t work. This is a child slave we are talking about. A slightly more mature take on the character would have canceled out part of what didn’t work in Phantom Menace. Jake did alright with what he was given, being a little boy, but he wasn’t the right kind of child Anakin that the story *needed* versus what it got. I really would have loved to see this kid’s take on it.
