The Acolyte’s Manny Jacinto Unmasked

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The actor behind the series’ most mysterious character talks about training his body and working on his craft to bring the multiple personae to life.

By Kristin Baver

The Stranger sometimes visited Manny Jacinto in his dreams.

It was during production and the actor —who made his Star Wars debut in The Acolyte’s two-episode premiere as Qimir, the smuggler/potion maker and accessory to Amandla Stenberg’s assassin Mae — was preparing for the role in the seclusion of the small town of Windsor, about 40 minutes outside London. “I was by myself and it was an advantage because I felt the isolation,” Jacinto tells StarWars.com. “I was able to just really think about the characters 24/7 to the point where I’d have dreams — but also nightmares — about them.”

Taking inspiration from an eclectic blend of Johnny Depp’s portrayal of Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise mixed with Toshiro Mifune’s Kikushiyo in Seven Samurai, Jacinto would practice walking like Qimir at the local grocery store and even speak in character to the cashier at the checkout. Then, just like in the series, he would make the switch, honing into the stillness of the Stranger. Jackie Chan’s Drunken Master was a masterclass in that specific kind of duality. “You think he’s just a drunk, but he’s actually a kung fu badass,” Jacinto says. “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].”

Recently, Jacinto sat down to talk about the duality of his part in The Acolyte, working with creator and showrunner Leslye Headland, and readjusting to his regular life….

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