NEW YORK, NY.- As it turns out, Manny Jacinto brought some relevant experience to “The Acolyte”: He understands how to change characters.
Jacinto is best known for “The Good Place,” the hit NBC sitcom on which he played an unspeaking Buddhist monk before being unmasked as Jason Mendoza, a lovable, Jacksonville Jaguars-obsessed dummy who is anything but mute. “I had no idea what I was stepping into,” Jacinto said in an interview. “It was my first job in the States. I didn’t even have a green card yet.”
He has since worked alongside some of Hollywood’s biggest stars, including Nicole Kidman, in the television series “Nine Perfect Strangers” — a series in which he showed a more stoic side, playing a character who essentially served as Kidman’s acolyte.
He then appeared with Tom Cruise in “Top Gun: Maverick.” And this summer he added arguably the biggest franchise of all to his resume, taking a role in the latest big-budget “Star Wars” series on Disney+. Created by Leslye Headland, “The Acolyte” wrapped up its first season Tuesday.
As was the case in “The Good Place,” Jacinto’s character was not who he seemed.
Jacinto, who is Filipino and Canadian, starred as Qimir, a pharmacist who began the show as a kind of accomplice to a young woman named Mae (Amandla Stenberg), who is on her mission to hunt and kill Jedi. In the fifth episode of the season, he was revealed to actually be a Sith Lord known as “the Stranger,” elevating Jacinto from an afterthought apothecary to a top-line “Star Wars” villain. In Tuesday’s season finale, he fought another lightsaber battle and got the acolyte his character always wanted.
In two different interviews — one early in the season and another after the finale premiered Tuesday — Jacinto discussed how he entered the “Star Wars” universe, his shift to the dark side and the possibility of more seasons of “The Acolyte.” Here are excerpts from the conversations.
Q: I read that you wrote an essay to get this part in “The Acolyte.” Did that really work?
A: Leslye was very kind to me. When we met, she wanted to figure out how to tackle this character — kind of a lower status of character within the galaxy. And I gave her a bunch of ways. I was looking at this email a couple days ago, and it was like seven different options in terms of how to tackle Qimir.
I sent it off to Leslye, and she saw how passionate I was about it. And next thing you know, I got the call. But with that being said, she’s mentioned before that she always had me in mind for the character.
Q: It became clear later in the season that the part was much bigger than it initially seemed to be. What have you enjoyed about getting to go from Qimir to the Stranger?
A: At first it was very much just the archetype of the drunken master. You have the low-status character and he turns a heel, and he’s actually the mastermind pulling the strings.
But as we started filming, I started to approach the character more as a trio. First you had him as the apothecary salesman. And then in the middle of the season, you have this masked character that’s kind of just plowing through all the Jedi — he has no mercy in regards to his enemies. And then you see this third character in Episode 6 that has this greater sense of empathy, and you get to see his side of things. It was a plethora of things to explore.
That’s why I keep saying, like, maybe I should just quit and retire: How do you top diving into a character like this?
Q: You have said working on this show was very collaborative. Is there a specific thing you suggested that you’re most proud of?
A: In terms of the Stranger’s lightsaber, we had talks about how he needed to play dirty and how he didn’t really fight fair. So having that sneaky blade underneath the main blade was something that we really all agreed on.
The greatest thing about that aspect is it parallels Filipino martial arts — like having the two sticks in the hand. I was able to train that martial art with the stunt choreographers and really incorporate it into the series. So that was a super-proud moment for me to be able to give a shout out to my culture and to the Philippines.
There’s also Episode 6: At first it was written like I gave the helmet to Osha. And in our discussions with Amandla [Stenberg] and I, we agreed that it just didn’t feel right. We really wanted her to make the choice of putting on the helmet.
Q: Did your background in dance help with the lightsaber fight scenes?
A: The choreography wasn’t necessarily the problem. It was getting my body prepped — to be able to go that hard and that fast without injuring myself or pulling any muscles. And getting a real feel for wielding a lightsaber. Because there’s a difference between wielding a lightsaber for a year and wielding it for a month. You can see the difference.
The thing about our lightsabers is that we wanted to be able to use the light. I believe the lightsabers in other projects, it’s very much CGI. I don’t know if the light is really there. But Leslye and our props department really wanted to be able to utilize the light so it can reflect and be displayed on people’s faces. But along with that, the lightsabers are heavier, so that was a difficult part.
Q: How is it wearing the mask?
A: You can breathe, but it’s very difficult, and then obviously your hearing is impaired and the vision is horrible. That’s why we had three different masks — ones that got progressively bigger in the eye holes.
Q: What is the Stranger’s deal — what does he want?
A: He wants an acolyte. He wants freedom. He wants the ability to be able to live on his own terms.
Q: He doesn’t seem purely evil. How should we feel about him?
A: It’s always come down to this feeling of being an outsider, being in a place that doesn’t accept you. I think that’s the reason it really resonated with Leslye and me. Leslye being a female, gay showrunner in this industry and me being an Asian American male in this industry, we’ve constantly had to fight for our position and we’ve constantly had to prove ourselves. So, I think it really is just a parallel to that type of feeling of wanting to be accepted and wanting to be able to really express oneself.
Q: Vernestra Rwoh, a Jedi Master played by Rebecca Henderson, goes back to some of the “Star Wars” novels. Is the Stranger Vernestra’s former Padawan?
A: I cannot confirm or deny, but with the evidence that’s been brought forward, especially in Episode 8, that’s a fair assumption.
Q: In the last two scenes of the finale, the Stranger is standing unified with Mae’s twin, Osha, and Vernestra rushes in to tell Yoda there’s a problem. They seem to set up a second season. Should we expect one?
A: I think in Leslye’s mind, there are definitely more seasons to play, whether it would be a second season or three seasons or more. I think there’s much more to tell. We’ll see. Fingers crossed. I’d be more than happy to run it back and do it again. I just gotta lay off the burgers and the pizza.
Q: These “Star Wars” shows are a huge investment, and fans have a lot of opinions. Do you think this one has been successful?
A: Success for me is always based on whether or not I felt creatively fulfilled. If it resonates with other people or if it makes people feel something, I think that’s always a success to me.
Q: Was this a success for you?
A: Absolutely. Not that it’s been a battle, but a lot of people have resonated with my character on “The Good Place.” Whenever they see me, they see Jason Mendoza. At least in my inner circles, people have been very complimentary [about “The Acolyte”]. Like, “I never knew you were able to do something like that. I never knew that you could tap into a character like this.” This is coming even from people I worked with on “The Good Place.” So, that in itself is a huge win for me.
Q: Do you see it as a shift from some of your other work?
A: The path forward is to not just take on characters that are supporting or just the best friend: It’s making a move toward leading-male projects or characters that push the narrative as opposed to just supporting it. I’m curious to see what “The Acolyte” brings or the doors it might open.
This article originally appeared in
The New York Times.
