The Acolyte Star Manny Jacinto Calls His Star Wars Fashion 'Hobbit Meets Poverty'
The new "Star Wars" series "The Acolyte" knows the truth that we all figured out in 2016 but then apparently forgot: Manny Jacinto should be in everything.
The actor, who put in one of the funniest TV performances of the past decade as Jason Mendoza in "The Good Place," hasn't appeared on screen nearly often enough since that sitcom's end, but "The Acolyte" is about to change that. The upcoming Disney+ series features an impressive ensemble cast, including "Bodies Bodies Bodies" star Amandla Stenberg, "Logan" breakout Dafne Keen, and "The Matrix" series alum Carrie-Anne Moss. Then there's Jacinto, who plays Qimir, a former smuggler whose life has seemingly settled down since he started working in the trading world (per ComicBook.com).
A mention of Qimir's newly comfortable status in his character biography (he now spends his time "enjoying a life of leisure," apparently) implies that the former criminal wasn't always well-off. Jacinto seems to confirm as much in a new interview with Total Film. "Qimir isn't the most fashionable person," the actor said when describing his character's digs. "I think he's spent a lot of his money eating at his home planet's cantina. His fashion sense is basically hobbit meets ... poverty." He's not wrong: a first look at the character shows him sporting a thick brown cloak that wouldn't be out of place in Middle-earth. It also looks distinctly handmade, unlike some of the much more fashionable digs we've seen from "Star Wars" characters in the past.
According to Jacinto, Qimir is just minding his business
In terms of Qimir's place in the "Star Wars" universe, Jacinto doesn't seem keen to categorize him as a hero or villain. "Qimir is an everyday guy minding his own business," he says, noting that it was series creator Leslye Headland who originally described him as a "former smuggler." According to Jacinto, Qimir is "doing his own thing and gets pulled into this whole storyline, whether he likes it or not." He's also not a fighter, at least not in the flashy way we're used to. Jacinto describes having "lightsaber envy," but says that after seeing how physically demanding the training was for actors who wielded the iconic weapons, he decided he was fine without one. "I was like, 'You know what? I'm good with my drink and my sandwich!'"
So we know that Qimir has lived a hardscrabble life (though he seems to have more stability lately), worked as a smuggler and trader, and doesn't appear to be training as a Jedi. What else can Jacinto say about the character ahead of the show's premiere? "He's trying to do his best, but has certain faults," the actor told Total Film, and though that's just a crumb of a teaser, it does put Qimir in a category with great ambivalent characters of "Star Wars" stories past, including Han Solo and Lando Calrissian. In "Star Wars," it seems like antiheroes have the most fun.
"Even though 'Star Wars' has been pretty black and white in the past in terms of good guys and bad guys, I think with our show we'll get audiences really thinking about whether they resonate with the light side or the dark side," Jacinto told the outlet. Fans will be able to pick a side when "The Acolyte" premieres on Disney+ on June 4, 2024.