In 1999—16 years after Return of the Jedi—a Star Wars prequel hit theaters with a new young actor leading the pack. Star Wars: The Phantom Menace starred Jake Lloyd as young Anakin Skywalker, the man who would become Darth Vader. Lloyd was 10 when the film came out, and he had beaten out around 3,000 other young actors for the life-changing part. One of those young Star Wars hopefuls was Devon Michael, a child actor who made it to the final three in the audition process.
In a new short film by The New York Times, 32-year-old Michael talks about auditioning for The Phantom Menace when he was nine years old and how being rejected for the role affected the rest of his life. Read on to find out what Michael has to say now.
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Michael was already a working actor when he auditioned.
Star Wars / YouTubeWhen Michael became one of the 3,000 boys to audition for the role of Anakin, he already had a lengthy Hollywood resume. He appeared in 20 national commercials, was on the TV series ER and The Client, and was in the movie Little Boy Blue alongside Ryan Phillippe. His older brother, Jordan Christopher Michael, was also a child actor and had a recurring role on Full House.
Michael says in the New York Times video that one day he was picked up from school by his mom and told he could audition for the new Star Wars movie. As a huge fan of the movies already, he was thrilled. "It was the greatest movie I had ever seen," he said.
He made it to the final three.
Star Wars / YouTubeAfter multiple rounds of auditions, the final three actors were sent to director George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch to do a screen test with co-star Natalie Portman and be directed by Lucas himself. Michael met the two other actors: Lloyd, who would eventually get the role, and Michael Angarano, who is still an actor today. "It was nice to have company, because we were all going to Star Wars together," Michael said of their limo trip to the famous estate.
Michael said that after doing a scene from the film with a teenage Portman, his mom told him that his performance made everyone in the room cry. "I loved that scene. And I felt really good about it," he said.
But, he didn't get the part—and that set him on a different path.
The New York TimesOnce he was back home, Michael found out that he wasn't cast. "That was devastating," he said of getting the news, "but then the trailer came out. That's when it started to be inescapable." Michael noted that because of commercials and talk about the new movie being everywhere, he couldn't avoid thinking about it. On top of that, a documentary was made about the making of the film, which included the casting of young Anakin and adults speaking about the merits of each child.
"It would have maybe been better if that documentary wasn’t there," Michael told The New York Times. "I know it wasn’t malicious, but it felt like being kicked when I was down, because it put me in the public as the loser." He said that it followed him through school for years, as his peers would always ask him about it.
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He's now a writer of children's novels.
The New York TimesMichael quit acting following the Star Wars audition process. "I stopped acting because it was hard to imagine that that wasn’t the most important thing I would ever do," he explained.
Now 32, Michael is a writer of children's and fantasy books. According to his website, he also works as a screenwriter and script consultant. He is married and lives in Vancouver. "She knows of Star Wars," he told The New York Times of his wife. "I don’t think she really cares about it that much." He also said that he'd like to have kids and would tell them about his Star Wars audition—if they like the movies.
Life took different turns for the other two actors in the final three.
Gilbert Carrasquillo/FilmMagic via Getty ImagesLloyd (pictured) appeared in two more movies after The Phantom Menace, but stopped acting in 2001. He went on to attend various Star Wars conventions and fan events, but in recent years has made headlines for legal issues. After facing charges related to reckless driving in 2015, his mother said publicly that he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, as reported by Yahoo!. In January 2020, she shared an update with Geek News Now and said that her son was receiving treatment. "He has moved closer to his family and we are all working hard to help him with this," Lisa Lloyd said. "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." In the Times film, Michael said, "Jake was such a nice boy. I really hope he’s doing well." The video also notes that Lloyd and his performance were publicly criticized by some Star Wars fans.
As for Angarano, he is still acting. He's had roles in Almost Famous, Will & Grace, and 24. Most recently, he appeared in a recurring role on This Is Us and in a role on the comedy series PEN15, which stars and was co-created by his partner, Maya Erskine.
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