Streaming service Disney+ has announced that Filipino Canadian Hollywood actor Manny Jacinto is tapped to join the cast of its upcoming Star Wars series, “The Acolyte.”
“Joining the previously announced Amandla Stenberg are Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Jodie Turner-Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Charlie Barnett, Dean-Charles Chapman and Carrie-Anne Moss,” it added.
Jacinto shared the announcement on his Instagram account @mannyjacinto by posting the cast omnibus but did not make any comment.
The 35-year-old will be one of the three main characters in the series which includes Stenberg and Lee — best known in film “Hunger Games” and multi-awarded series “Squid Game,” respectively.
Born in Manila, Jacinto — now 35-year-old — entered the entertainment industry with small roles in series including “Once Upon a Time,” “Supernatural” and “iZombie.”
His breaking role came starring as Jason Mendoza on the NBC sitcom “The Good Place” (2016 to 2020). He also appeared as Waring ‘Wade’ Espiritu in the neo-noir thriller film “Bad Times at the El Royale” (2018) and as Fritz in the action-drama film “Top Gun: Maverick” (2022).
Set to be Jacinto’s biggest project, “The Acolyte” is an eight-parter described by Disney Plus as a “mystery-thriller that will take viewers into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark-side powers in the final days of the High Republic era. A former Padawan reunites with her Jedi Master to investigate a series of crimes, but the forces they confront are more sinister than they ever anticipated.”
The High Republic era is around 50 years before the events of “The Phantom Menace.”
