Manny Jacinto has stolen the show in The Acolyte, initially portraying the mild-mannered Qimir before revealing his true self as the villainous Sith Lord, The Stranger.
A walking thirst trap for some and the most badass Sith villain in nearly two decades for others, it's fair to say Jacinto has made his mark on Star Wars. However, the apparent review-bombing has not escaped the actor's notice.
"Mixed feelings all around," he told GQ when they asked what it's been like to share The Acolyte with the world. "There’s a lot of love, which is great, but when somebody doesn’t like it, it’s that one comment that kind of just gets to you a little bit."
Asked about some of the negativity that's surrounded the show since it launched, Jacinto added, "It’s a cycle. With everything that’s come out since the original trilogy, there’s always a very passionate group that doesn’t like change, that wants that same feeling that they experienced when they were kids, only now they've grown up and their taste has matured and they're more critical about art or the world, and then they are just more precious about the things that they experienced when they were younger."
He'd later point out how the discourse surrounding the Star Wars prequel trilogy has changed, noting that Hayden Christensen went from being slated for his work as Anakin Skywalker to becoming a beloved figure among the majority of fans.
"Looking at it through that lens is really helpful," Jacinto admits. "And it sucks that sometimes you have to wait 10, 20, 30 years to get your flowers. But the fact that a lot of people are enjoying it right now, I think that's all I can focus on right now. It might just take some time to get other people on board, but at the end of the day, I am so proud of what we made."
Elsewhere in the interview, Jacinto was asked for his thoughts on the backlash which surrounded his Top Gun: Maverick role being reduced to a few seconds of screentime and no speaking lines (despite months of flight training alongside breakout star Glen Powell).
"It’s flattering that there was a little bit of an outcry, but it wasn’t shocking to me," he admitted. "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. 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."
"It kind of fuels you, because at the end of the day, Tom Cruise is writing stories for Tom Cruise," Jacinto acknowledged. "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."
Back to The Acolyte, though, and Jacinto believes the relationship between The Stranger and Osha will be the central focus of a possible season 2.
"In the fan art I've seen, there's a good amount that implies...something between Osha and the Stranger," he teased. "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 subsequent season."
All episodes of The Acolyte are now streaming on Disney+.