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Manny Jacinto
Canadian actor (born 1987) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Manuel Luis Jacinto[1][2] (/dʒəˈsɪntoʊ/ jə-SIN-toh,[3] Filipino: [haˈsɪnto]; born August 19, 1987)[4] is a Filipino-born Canadian actor. After several small roles on television, his breakout role came as Jason Mendoza on the NBC sitcom The Good Place (2016–2020). Jacinto had minor roles in Bad Times at the El Royale (2018) and Top Gun: Maverick (2022) and portrayed the Stranger/"Qimir" in the Star Wars series The Acolyte (2024). He also provided the voice of Scott Denoga in the Disney Channel animated series Hailey's On It! (2023–2024). In 2025, Jacinto will star in Disney's Freakier Friday.
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Early life
Jacinto was born in Manila, Philippines,[5][6] and is of Filipino-Chinese descent.[6][7][8] His family emigrated to Canada in 1990,[9] when he was about three years old.[10] He was raised in Richmond, British Columbia.[11] He grew up playing baseball[4] and basketball,[12] and attended Vancouver College, an all-boys Catholic high school.[4][13]
He earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering at the University of British Columbia.[4][14][15]
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Career
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While interning, Jacinto participated in hip-hop dance competitions[16] before deciding on acting as a career.[11][17] He became frustrated by the lack of prominent Asian actors in Vancouver's film community and moved to Los Angeles.[18] After small roles in series including Once Upon a Time, Supernatural, and iZombie; he was cast in 2015 as triad leader Wing Lei in the Canadian spy drama The Romeo Section by Chris Haddock. The role won him a Leo Award nomination for Best Supporting Performance in a Dramatic Series.[19] In 2016, Jacinto was cast as Jason Mendoza in the NBC comedy The Good Place.[20] He received favourable reviews for his performance as Mendoza, an EDM-obsessed "lovable doofus" from Jacksonville, Florida, going against stereotypes of how Asian men are often portrayed in Hollywood.[21][22][23][24]
In September 2018, Jacinto was cast in the Top Gun sequel Top Gun: Maverick, starring Tom Cruise.[25] In November 2019, it was announced that Jacinto would have a main role on the Netflix horror drama miniseries Brand New Cherry Flavor.[26] It was released on August 13, 2021.[27] In November 2021, it was announced that Jacinto would voice Scott in the animated comedy-adventure series Hailey's On It!, which premiered in June 2023 on Disney Channel.[28] In 2022, Jacinto voiced Lucan in the eight-episode sci-fi podcast Marigold Breach, alongside his Good Place co-star Jameela Jamil.[29] He portrayed Qimir in 2024's The Acolyte.[30]
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Personal life
In November 2019, Jacinto announced that he was engaged to Descendants actress Dianne Doan.[31] He lives in Los Angeles.[32]
Filmography
| † | Denotes works that have not yet been released |
Film
Television
Web
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Awards and nominations
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References
External links
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