Summary:
- Manny Jacinto, now gaining fame as a seductive Sith Lord in Disney+’s “The Acolyte,” revealed that all his lines were cut from “Top Gun: Maverick,” though he holds no bitterness towards the experience.
- He emphasized the importance of creating bigger stories for Asian Americans and people of color, rather than waiting for others to do it.
Manny Jacinto, known for his television roles on “The Good Place” and “Nine Perfect Strangers,” is experiencing a new level of fame as Qimir on Disney+’s “Star Wars” series “The Acolyte.”
Jacinto’s portrayal of a seductive Sith Lord has quickly made him one of the most talked-about new additions to the “Star Wars” canon.
While “The Acolyte” is providing Jacinto with his first real taste of the highs associated with joining a Hollywood mega-franchise, it’s not his first foray into big-budget films.
Before joining the “Star Wars” universe, Jacinto was cast in “Top Gun: Maverick” as LT Billy “Fritz” Avalone. However, all of Jacinto’s lines were cut from the movie, and he only appeared in a few background scenes.
“It’s flattering that there was a little bit of an outcry, but it wasn’t shocking to me,” Jacinto said in an interview with GQ magazine about being cut from “Top Gun: Maverick.”
“There was this sense of where the film was going [on set], like I can see them focusing the camera more on these [other] guys and not taking so much time on our scenes.”
“Top Gun: Maverick” significantly boosted the careers of Glen Powell and Miles Teller, but it did little to elevate Jacinto’s screen presence. Despite this, the actor holds no bitterness about the experience.
“Fortunately, it still was a great experience — you get to see this huge machine at work, see how Tom Cruise works, and you get to be a small part of this huge franchise,” he told GQ.
Reflecting on his journey, Jacinto shared with a Philippines news outlet in 2022 (via GQ) that he was cast in the “Top Gun” sequel in 2018 and spent months in flight training with real military pilots to prepare for shooting.
“You kind of feel like a superhero a little bit,” Jacinto said at the time about his training.
“And it’s an incredible feeling because even throughout shooting, we were able to meet a good amount of people in the Navy, people in the Air Force, and a good amount of them are Filipino.
And to be able to represent that for them and have their face kind of represented, meant a lot.”
Jacinto discovered the extent of his role’s reduction only when the sequel premiered in theaters.
“It kind of fuels you, because at the end of the day, Tom Cruise is writing stories for Tom Cruise,” Jacinto said about the experience.
“It’s up to us — Asian Americans, people of color — to be that [for ourselves]. We can’t wait for somebody else to do it. If we want bigger stories out there, we have to make them for ourselves.”
Jacinto is now enjoying his blockbuster moment with “Star Wars” and “The Acolyte,” which is currently streaming its first season in its entirety on Disney+. While a second season has yet to be announced, fans can read more about Jacinto in his GQ profile.
