The Acolyte: Manny Jacinto Becoming the Latest Star Wars Darling Owes a Key Part of His Role to Johnny Depp as Series Wins Over Fans
Warning: Spoiler Alert for The Acolyte!
Many fans were skeptical of the new Star Wars series, The Acolyte. However, a recent twist-filled episode 5, reminiscent of Game of Thrones, has reignited interest for many. It features shocking deaths of important characters, similar to GOT‘s infamous reputation for killing off main characters.
Now, people have started talking about the series again, especially praising Manny Jacinto for his amazing performance. Fans are familiar with Jacinto as Jason Mendoza from The Good Place, but in the new Star Wars series, he’s showing a whole new side!
He plays a mysterious dark character named Qimir/Stranger, and fans are amazed by his acting. His character is much more complex than anyone expected. Interestingly, this character is inspired by one of Hollywood moguls’ movie role.
Manny Jacinto Channels Johnny Depp’s Swashbuckling Spirit in Star Wars Series
In a recent interview, Manny Jacinto opened up about the surprising sources that inspired his portrayal of Qimir. The actor revealed that he drew inspiration from Johnny Depp‘s iconic character, Jack Sparrow, from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.
But Qimir is more than just a charming rogue. To portray his character’s quiet moments of introspection, Jacinto looked to a classic of Japanese cinema, Seven Samurai. Toshiro Mifune’s portrayal of Kikushiyo, a gruff but skilled swordsman, resonated with Jacinto. The 36-year-old told Star Wars website:
You think he’s just a drunk, but he’s actually a kung fu badass. The Stranger was just a bit more grounded. Isolation was a good and a bad thing, but it was very beneficial in trying to mold the characters. It was just chaos and stillness and balancing those within those two [personae].
Inspired by Depp’s quirky Jack Sparrow and Kikushiyo from Seven Samurai, Jacinto would often practice walking like Qimir in the grocery store, even chatting with the cashier in character. Then, just like in the series, he’d switch to the calm and composed Stranger.
Manny Jacinto’s Dynamic Transformation in The Acolyte
Manny Jacinto was intrigued by the Stranger from the very start. He didn’t know if he would ever be able to top this role. According to him, it is a dream role for any actor because of the character’s complexities.
The Filipino-Canadian star said the most interesting part of his role in The Acolyte was the big change his character goes through. He started by discussing with the show creator how to make a seemingly unimportant character turn into a super villain. Check out his quote below:
What appealed to me about The Acolyte, this whole story and the character of Qimir and his shift into what we call the Stranger, is that everything was a huge challenge. And I just love a good challenge. I love being able to build characters that we’ve never seen before from the ground up.
Thanks to his dance background and love of performing action scenes himself, Jacinto took on a big training challenge for his role. He and the team wanted the Stranger to fight in a completely new way, which is smooth yet powerful!
Watch The Acolyte on Disney+!
