Manny Jacinto Finally Talks About The Stranger in Detail - Star Wars News Net (2024)

Now that The Acolyte has finished its eight-episode run, Manny Jacinto is finally allowed to talk about his villainous turn as The Stranger. Speaking to GQ, he goes into detail about The Stranger’s fighting style and lightsaber, his seductiveness and how proud he is to further Asian and Filipino representation in Star Wars.

One fascinating aspect of The Stranger’s success against the Jedi is that they had no idea what he was going to do next. As Yord Fandar said, his movements were completely unpredictable. That was something that Manny Jacinto worked on with stunt director Chris Cowan (he did nearly all his own stunts), taking inspiration from Japanese movies and the Demon Slayer manga-turned-movie.

“When we were initially talking about how the character moved, we noticed that in the prequels with Hayden and Ewan [McGregor], they were always very upright, like a fencer’s stance. But we wanted to just change levels and be incredibly dynamic. A big inspiration for us was theRurouni Kenshinmovies, these live-action Japanese movies with incredible swordplay. And I was and am really intoDemon Slayer, which informed a lot as well.”

The Stranger’s lightsaber was notable for concealing a shorter shoto-blade that popped out the bottom of its hilt, which was intended to symbolize his dishonorable and dirty fighting style. Manny worked with showrunner Leslye Headland to conceptualize the weapon. According to Manny, it was inspired by Filipino martial arts (a martial arts style also practiced by Kelleran Beq’s actor Ahmed Best).

“I’m so proud of how those turned out, because it was very much a collaborative effort. Leslye and I had the same idea of having a sneaky weapon to come out, because this guy plays dirty. And then it just so happens that having two blades is very much an ode to Filipino martial arts. It was a lot of work [to master], but I think it definitely paid off as a shout-out to my culture.”

One aspect of The Stranger that became a big talking point was his skill at seducing Osha to the dark side of the Force. The most fascinating thing about him was his own motivations, which weren’t inherently evil. Manny reinforces the idea that he is his own person and just wants to live his life without being persecuted, something he shares with many minority groups from our own world. When asked about the character’s seductive nature, he joked, “I think the baby oil goes a long way. Baby oil and wet hair.”

“He’s like that high school bad boy. He just minds his own business. He’s not pulling you, he’s not telling you to come and be with him. He’s just living his own life, and you wind up intrigued by what he’s doing.

“I think the best part about the Stranger is that he’s [this avatar for] not feeling accepted in a society that you’re trying so hard to fit into. He just wants to exist. He wants to be able to express himself in this world, yet society is constantly telling him that he can’t.

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“Leslye has expressed that she’s always felt that way as a female showrunner, as a lesbian in this industry, that sometimes people don’t take her seriously. She’s constantly had to prove herself in an industry that isn’t very open to people like her—or like myself. Having an Asian identity and fitting into American [society], fitting into Hollywood—I’ve had to fight so hard to fit in. And that’s a huge aspect of the Stranger.”

Manny also acknowledged that some sections of the fandom would like to see a potential romance between The Stranger and Osha if The Acolyte gets renewed for a second season. While he doesn’t know anything, he thinks the romance is a possibility if people want it.

“In the fan art I’ve seen, there’s a good amount that implies…something between Osha and the Stranger. That’s something that people, I think, have been yearning for in this genre, or at least in this IP, and I love that people are honing in on it and encouraging it. So I think people can look forward to more of that, possibly. If people want it, we can explore that in a subsequent season.”

He admits that he’d been itching to play as a villain for a while, particularly as he was most well known for playing the lovable idiot Jason Mendoza on The Good Place before his turn on The Acolyte.

“I’ve been waiting a long time to play a villain like this, that’s very understated, but also very powerful. And then obviously a lot of people know me as Jason Mendoza fromThe Good Place, and I don’t like being put into a box.

At the end of the day, I just want to keep people guessing, exercise different muscles, and explore characters—whether they’re good guys or bad guys—with their own really strong belief systems. Now it’s going to be an even greater task to have people not think of me as the Stranger, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”

He reveals that while he was a Star Wars fan growing up, the lack of people who looked like him prevented him from really connecting with it like other fans did. However, he loves that him starring in a Star Wars project may inspire other people of color to become Star Wars fans themselves.

“I remember watching all of the movies with my parents growing up. If I’m completely transparent with you, [Star Wars] was cool, it was something I admired, but almost from afar. Maybe because I didn’t see anybody like me in Star Wars, it was never something I aspired to be in, the way I’d watch a Jackie Chan film or something and go, ‘Oh, I want to do that.’ ”

I know there are plenty of Star Wars fans that look like you and me already, but it’s exciting that in this new iteration we have Lee Jung-Jae, myself, Amandla, Jodie Turner-Smith. Even more people of color will be able to relate to and celebrate and see themselves in this entity that is Star Wars.”

He spoke about his hope that his newfound stardom in a new type of role in a genre show like The Acolyte might open up new doors for him as an Asian and Filipino man in Hollywood, especially after his role in Top Gun Maverick was left on the cutting room floor.

“I mean, that’s the dream, but I don’t know. Maybe it’s my lack of faith in this industry, but the people of color who find success, I feel like they still have to work at it and continue to fight for roles. The people I look up to—if you look at Steven Yeun, or Kumail Nanjiani, or even Donald Glover—they all had to, in some shape or form, create [projects for themselves] in order to continue to have a platform.

Or even look at Dev Patel! He’s a huge star, but he had to make Monkey Man himself [to get an action role like that], and that was even shelved at one point. That’s crazy to me. So that’s why I have this caution towards whether or not the industry will move things forward for my career. If anything, it fuels me to try and create things on my own terms and hopefully lead projects that way.”

You can read the full interview at GQ. It will be a while before we see Manny Jacinto reprise the role of The Stranger, hopefully in a second season of The Acolyte.