Manny Jacinto Says ‘People Were Yearning’ for What ‘The Acolyte’ Provided

[Editor’s note: The following interview contains spoilers for “The Acolyte,” including the season finale that premiered on July 16.]

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Manny Jacinto knows what he did to the internet on June 25.

When his goofy low-level criminal Qimir on “The Acolyte” was unmasked as the show’s big bad — known as the Stranger and clad in sweeping sleeveless robes — the entire trajectory of Leslye Headland’s space-set crime thriller shifted.

“She posed the question of: how do you tackle this sort of low status character, and transform him into someone who turns out to be the person pulling the strings behind the scenes?”

For both Headland and Jacinto, the Stranger’s arc and relationship to Osha (Amandla Stenberg) was always about seduction. “What does it really mean to be seduced by the Dark Side?” While the early-2000s prequel trilogy explored that through political power, “The Acolyte” gets literal with physically and sexually charged scenes — even if the characters have barely touched (so far). When the Stranger takes Osha’s hand at the end of Episode 8 , they are student and master, but also something more.

Even with a full season in the rearview (and shouts across the internet for renewal), Jacinto told IndieWire that he still carries the anxiety of shrouding his role for so long, and for how the show would be received. He’s humbled and grateful for the opportunity, and in awe of the level of admiration and support he’s received from fans — nay, his acolytes.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

IndieWire: I’m so happy to be speaking with you the week of this amazing finale. How has the reception been? Have you been tuning into all of that?

Manny Jacinto: It’s been a wild ride from beginning to end. I caught the finale with my wife and our little hippo of a dog and just took it all in, just trying to take in these special moments. It feels nice to finally have it all out there.

You had the unique privilege of a lot of Disney actors, of being on a press tour and having to just lie your face off for months.

[ Chuckles ] Yeah, I’ve said this before, and I feel like I need to talk to Disney PR and be like, can we put out a disclaimer or statement to all the journalists worldwide who I’ve lied to straight up to their faces? Because I feel so bad. I carried a lot of anxiety — still kind of do — but we made it through.

What’s the process like even during production? You have to be realizing that this is so fun, but we have to guard the story and you especially are the custodian of this big secret.

It’s so interesting. I had the luxury of filming that in London, and we were there for eight months, and I felt so — I think I also kind of put this on myself; I was very secluded from the the real world, as you would say. I was in the outskirts of London, in this smaller town, so I was in a bubble. I didn’t have to worry too much what could result after the fact, I could just focus on the work. But then, yeah, once you start doing the press, and you start seeing the trailers, you’re like, “Oh, people are actually gonna watch this thing, and this is actually a pretty big deal.” So once that started hit, the anxiety started to creep up. But luckily there are a lot of people that really loved it.

What are some of the other emotions that have crept in since that production phase?

Fear. A good amount of fear, but also a good amount of pride. I feel like we took a lot of risks with this show — everything from it being away from the Skywalker saga, having a different type of action, the practicality of the sets — and I’m just incredibly proud of it. I’ve been going back and forth with Leslye with almost each episode or major milestone episodes, at least for my character, and we just constantly say how proud we are of what we were able to accomplish.

Speaking of Leslye — I know she kind of built the part around you, which is so cool, but then how much did you discuss or know about when you auditioned, or in those early stages, about what it would come to be?

It’s so weird. You never think that people are actually thinking about you for a part, but when it happens it’s so incredibly flattering. It’s a huge gift. It wasn’t a traditional audition process. It was really just a meeting, her and I. She couldn’t reveal too much, but the only way that she could really talk about the character was in terms of… he becomes someone that turns from low status to a greater position of power, so we just brainstormed a bunch. After the meeting, I shot her an email with a bunch of theories and ideas and ways that we could tackle that, and I think she appreciated the passion that I had for trying to tackle that problem. And three or four months later, she left a voicemail on my phone asking me if I wanted to be a part of this thing.

Did you reach out to anyone or hear from anyone from the wider franchise? It seems like Adam Driver would be a good person to talk to…

I wish! I admire Adam so much, not just with his role as Kylo Ren, but also all of his work. But no, I wasn’t able to really touch base with anybody. In Star Wars Celebration in London, I was able to run into Rosario Dawson, and specifically Rosario Dawson’s mom, because she was a fan of “The Good Place,” and she had such kind words to relay. Rosario herself was very kind and so loving. When you become a part of the Star Wars family and you run into people in the different worlds of Star Wars, you can’t help but feel like a familial connection.

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I’ve seen you posting the #Oshamir art on your Instagram — how dare you — and Yord Horde and Jecki Jam. Clearly you’ve been keyed into the fan response, so can you tell me more about that? So many actors stay very offline about these things.

Yes. I definitely still do stay offline. I’ll get sent things through text, funny little pieces of art — I don’t want to say funny little because I look at them and they’re just incredible. The amount of time and and effort that the fans have put into these pieces of art. I’m in awe. It’s funny — you gotta give people what they want, right? I think we knew coming into this story that people were yearning for a type of romantic connection between characters, or just something, some sort of longing. I think that was yearned for a little bit in this IP.

It has transformed my Twitter feed. To that end, especially now, where we’ve landed on the finale, Osha and the Stranger are so different from the other Sith-apprentice relationships that we’ve seen in Star Wars. Was there any pull to imitate that, or perhaps even a drive to really, really distinguish it based on what you just said?

From the start, we had a clear motive in terms of how we would lure in Osha into the Dark Side, and it was always this idea of seduction… She really wanted to explore that idea of intimacy, that empathy between characters, that that true seduction. In previous Star Wars projects, it hasn’t really been explored through that dynamic— really, to be intrigued and seduced by someone that you’re possibly just attracted to, whether it be physically or emotionally. It was a cool thing to explore, so we definitely leaned into that aspect of — thirst, as one might call it.

Most of the Sith lords we’ve seen are much older. I know we’re not there yet, but have you thought about if the Stranger has a pipeline of being one of those older, hooded figures? Or what would he be like if he survives and ages into that kind of character?

Ooh. I never really thought past that, to be honest. Throughout filming this — I didn’t even know what the finale would be like, so I was like, there’s a good chance I might not even make it to the end of the season. So for me, it’s step by step. If we do get a Season 2, I’m more than happy to run it back and do it again with these people because they’re so lovely and so passionate about this IP and incredibly collaborative, which is important. So we’ll see if I get to that hooded character point, if I get to play this character for a while. I’d be more than happy to. The fan base is incredible, the character is something I’ve never been able to touch before. I don’t think I’ll be able to ever again. So, yeah, I’d be more than happy to play him for years to come if that is the case. Or I might die in the next season if we have one! Who knows. Either/or, I’m not picky, I’m happy to be involved.

At least you’ll have another season at that point! I think Leslye spoke about you insisting on showing your arms in the Stranger outfit with the robes. Did the costuming impact the physicality of your performance, or how you approach the character?

Oh man, Leslye. I really don’t think I insisted on me having my arms out! I’m really not the one to —

It’s OK if you did! You can take credit.

I mean, it paid it off. But I have to give credit to to the invention of baby oil and its combination with dirt. It really goes a long way. It really does. And lighting, good lighting really helps a lot. I think it went hand in hand in terms of the physical transformation and the need to be able to perform the stunts. I was mainly focused on having enough strength and agility and cardio to be able to do the stunts myself, and obviously the positive effect of that is that your body transforms. And you get hashtag arms, and then you apply some things that will enhance that look, and you get the Stranger. I will say the costume in itself was hard to deal with, the cape and everything, so I do appreciate that we could just take off the cape and it was a sleeveless costume, because it was just less to worry about during the fight choreography.

Are there any theories you’ve seen out there that are true, but we maybe haven’t gotten to them in the show yet?

Star Wars fans are so smart. If anything, all the theories that have been theorized — I think what’s going to happen is that we’re going to take them, we’re going to have our own little brainstorm session with the writers, and we’re going to be like, “Hey, this is a good idea.” I think the opposite effect is happening, where we might consider what all the these Star Wars fans have been theorizing. But in terms of what they have theorized and is possibly coming up again, I have to defer to Leslye, because I have no idea what’s coming up next if we do get a Season 2. But who knows if that’s the case? Fingers crossed.

I’m going to use my last 10 seconds. Is Darth Plagueis your roommate?

[ Laughing ] To be honest with you, I actually did not know that was coming up when I watched the finale, because when I did see a cut of it, I didn’t see who that was. So that was the first time that I actually saw that character on screen in full form. I didn’t know I had somebody — yeah, possible roommate.

So he’s squatting.

Yes, yes, squatting rights. Obey the squatting rights.

“The Acolyte” is now streaming on Disney+.