Dragon Con 2024 Answers Why Manny Jacinto Is So Hot in The Acolyte
By Caroline Cao | September 4, 2024 | Celebrity & Culture
“The Internet is a very weird place… #Arms,” Manny Jacinto said. He’s referring to how he circulated the Internet as a hot meme, as Qimir/The Stranger in the rudely-cut-shot The Acolyte on Disney+. Alongside those biceps, what else contributed to his good looks on that show? Well, he credits baby oil and wet hair.
The notion of his “good lucks” was an unavoidable discussion at the Dragon Con 2024 “Star Wars Universe” panel.
Jacinto was sitting among the imposing Giancarlo Esposito (Moff Gideon in The Mandalorian), the raspy Danny Trejo (the Rancor wrangler in Book of Boba Fett) and a friendly Natasha Liu Bordizzo (Sabine Wren in Ahsoka).
There was also this question. “Hypothetically, what might be a reason to join the Dark Side?”
Of course, knowing what the fans wanted, Jacinto gave his answer:
“From a pin that was given to me today. It said, ‘Come join the Dark Side; We have Hot Guys.'”
This elicited cheers and applause, especially when Bordizzo added, “We have Hot Guys. And Shin,” referring to Sabine Wren’s archenemy in the Ahsoka show.
The event was also marked by Trejo rambling about Lucasfilm magic as the “next frontier,” at one point bleeding into the lengthiness to the point I suspected the moderator was both annoyed and bemused. “[I mean] I worked with The Muppets! When Kermit talks, you forget you’re talking to a puppet. But Grogu…” The $2 million-dollar “Baby Yoda” puppet was a different level of puppetry interaction for him.
Trejo was also proud of his acting odyssey, from a typecast Mexican brute “bad guy” (with tattoos) to a “good uncle in Spy Kids” to a Rancor Handler. When asked about his memorable audition experience, he admitted he doesn’t recall every audition for his roles. According to him, “They kinda know what they’re getting when they see my picture.”
The following day, Jacinto spoke at another Star Wars panel, this time with Ming-Na Wen instead of Trejo. The subject of The Acolyte season 2 campaign came up.
The moderator asked Jacinto, “If you were to leave this mortal coils of the world, what would you like to do?”
“The Acolyte season 2,” he responded. We’d like that too!
