A lot of things come to mind when you think about the young actors who were able to snatch up a sought-after role in the Marvel franchise. Indeed, the last thing you’d ever expect is that one of them would be forced to end up enduring homelessness. Yet, that is the situation 17-year-old Jack Veal, who played Kid Loki opposite Tom Hiddleston in Marvel’s Loki TV series, is currently facing. The young actor recently revealed that he has had to exchange his home for the streets, in response to the physical and emotional abuse he suffered at the hands of his parents.
“Social services refuse to help me, despite what I’ve told them,” Veal in a TikTok video on Monday 2 December 2024. “I am desperate. I have been sleeping in the streets. I’m currently sleeping in a trailer that has smashed-in windows; it’s unsafe.”
Veal also included a tour of the trailer he’s been living in, noting that it gets cold because the windows are shattered.
It’s a dark difference to the life one would have imagined for the young, successful actor. Veal is also known for his appearances in Netflix’s The End of the F***ing World and Amazon Prime Video’s The Peripheral. However, his potential and opportunities were erased by a hostile upbringing.
“I am on my knees, begging for you guys to just share this, do something, spread the message about how the government is treating kids,” he noted. “But I cope. There’s no electricity, so I have to use a power bank and cycle through those. I need help. Please share, please share it with whoever you can. You don’t have to pay me anything; I don’t need anything. I just need you to make this go as viral as possible. I will continue to put more stuff out. But please, I need help,” the actor continued.
Still, Veal’s situation is dire: “I struggle with mental health, like autism, ADHD, and [have been] screened for bipolar and psychosis,” he explained.
On Wednesday night, 4 December, there was a turning point, as the actor revealed that he had finally gotten placed but was still set to be homeless for the coming weeks.
“They’ve told me that I need to be street homeless again or return home,” he said, “until they find me a foster care placement, which might take a while. They’re telling me days, which are probably gonna be weeks because they lie. So I’m gonna have to be street homeless.”
Stating that he doesn’t know what to do, Veal added: “This is another call out for help. I had hope, but again they’re not doing anything. They want to put me in foster care, but in the meantime, I have to stay on the streets. It’s f*cking ridiculous.”