Star Wars: The Acolyte Casts The Good Place Star Manny Jacinto
If you count yourself among those who walked away disappointed by the brief screen-time Manny Jacinto got in "Top Gun: Maverick," you might be happy to know the actor just booked himself a shiny new role on a live-action "Star Wars" TV series. Bortles!
Deadline is reporting Jacinto has joined the cast of "The Acolyte," a show that takes place near the end of the High Republic era (or, for all you slackers out there who have yet to commit the entire "Star Wars" timeline to memory, about 100 years prior to the events of "The Phantom Menace"). His co-stars on the series will include "Squid Game" star turned Emmy winner Lee Jung-jae and Amandla Stenberg ("Bodies Bodies Bodies") as leads, with Jodi Smith-Turner ("Queen & Slim") also reported to be playing a key role. Behind the camera, "Russian Doll" co-creator Leslye Headland is serving as the head writer and executive producer on the show.
Give Jason Mendoza a lightsaber, please
Jacinto, of course, is best known for starring in Michael Schur's critically-acclaimed fantasy comedy series "The Good Place" as Jason Mendoza, an immature and not-so-sharp but utterly lovable failed (sorry, "pre-successful") disc jockey and drug dealer from Florida who dies only to wind up in the "good" part of the afterlife by accident. The actor has also starred in shows like "Nine Perfect Strangers" and "Brand New Cherry Flavor" on top of showing up in films like "Top Gun: Maverick" and lending his voice to the English-dubbed version of Mamoru Hosoda's wonderful animated movie "Belle."
In terms of plot, "The Acolyte" has simply been described by Disney and Lucasfilm 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." But as intriguing as that set-up reads on paper, it's the talent attached to the project that I find the most exciting at the moment. Plus, by winding the clock back to a century before the "Star Wars" movies, it should be easier for the series to avoid getting bogged down by the type of needless fan service that has proven a bit of a sticking point for the franchise under Disney's watch.
Beyond that? My only hope is to see Jacinto suited up as a Jedi and wielding a lightsaber (or, really, he can just be some rando who found one on the streets of Coruscant, I'm not fussy) when "The Acolyte" begins streaming at an as-yet-unknown date in the future on Disney+.