Manny Jacinto
Jacinto at the 2018 San Diego Comic-Con
Born
Manuel Luis Jacinto

1986 or 1987 (age 36–37)
Manila, Philippines
NationalityCanadian
Alma materUniversity of British Columbia
OccupationActor
Years active2012–present

Manuel Luis Jacinto[1] (/dʒəˈsɪntoʊ/ jə-SIN-toh;[2] born 1986 or 1987[3]) is a 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 has appeared as Waring "Wade" Espiritu in the neo-noir thriller film Bad Times at the El Royale (2018) and as Fritz in the action drama film Top Gun: Maverick (2022). He also provides the voice of Scott Denoga in the Disney Channel animated series Hailey's On It! (2023–present).

Early life

Jacinto was born in Manila, Philippines,[4][5] and is of Filipino-Chinese descent.[5][6] His family immigrated to Canada in 1990,[7] when he was about three years old.[8] He was raised in Richmond, British Columbia.[4] He grew up playing baseball[3] and basketball,[9] and attended an all-boys Catholic high school, Vancouver College.[3][10]

He earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering at the University of British Columbia.[3][11][12]

Career

While interning, Jacinto participated in hip-hop dance competitions[13] before deciding on acting as a career.[4][8] He became frustrated by the lack of prominent Asian actors in Vancouver's film community and moved to Los Angeles.[14]

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.[15]

In 2016, Jacinto was cast as Jason Mendoza in the NBC comedy The Good Place.[16] 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.[17][18][19][20]

In September 2018, Jacinto was cast in the Top Gun sequel Top Gun: Maverick, starring Tom Cruise.[21]

In November 2019, it was announced that Jacinto would have a main role on the Netflix horror drama miniseries Brand New Cherry Flavor.[22] It was released on August 13, 2021.[23]

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.[24]

In 2022, Jacinto voiced Lucan in the eight-episode sci-fi podcast Marigold Breach, alongside his Good Place co-star Jameela Jamil.[25]

Personal life

In November 2019, Jacinto announced that he was engaged to fellow Canadian actress Dianne Doan.[26] He lives in Los Angeles.[27]

Filmography

Key
† Denotes works that have not yet been released

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2012 Broken Sword: Shadow of the Blade Kenji Short film
2013 Tele Tommy
John Apple Jack Street Kid
#Fix Adam Short film
2015 Dead Rising: Watchtower Desk Soldier
Even Lambs Have Teeth Vince
Brittney Grabill: Goodnight Dan Short film
2016 Peelers Travis
2017 Chocolate Cake Tim Short film
2018 Bad Times at the El Royale Waring 'Wade' Espiritu [28]
2022 Belle Shinobu "Shinobu-kun" Hisatake (voice) English Dub [29]
I Want You Back Logan
Top Gun: Maverick Lieutenant Billy "Fritz" Avalone
Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind Kenshi (voice) [30]
2023 Cora Bora Tom
TBA The Knife † Officer Padilla Post-production
TBA Balestra † Elliot Post-production

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2013 Once Upon a Time Quon Episode: "Selfless, Brave and True"[1]
Supernatural Diego Episode: "Pac-Man Fever"
Untold Stories of the E.R. Security Guard Episode: "Down for the Count"
2014 The 100 Boy #1 / Boy Bullied by Murphy 2 episodes
Rogue Bellhop Episode: "Oh Sarah"
Lighthouse Sexy Guy Dancing Television film
Rush P.A. Episode: "Because I Got High"
The Unauthorized Saved by the Bell Story Eric Television film
Paper Angels Jamie Lang
Only Human Kevin
2015 Bates Motel Loner Guy Episode: "Unbreak-Able"
iZombie Sammy Episode: "Liv and Let Clive"
Backstrom Tattooed Punk Episode: "Corkscrewed"
Wayward Pines Lab Assistant Episode: "Choices"
The Romeo Section Wing Lei 10 episodes
2016 Roadies Runner Episode: "Life Is a Carnival"
2016–2020 The Good Place Jason Mendoza Main role
2017 The Good Doctor Bobby Ato Episode: "Sacrifice"
2020 Magical Girl Friendship Squad Coffee Dude Voice role; 2 episodes
2021 Trese Maliksi English dub
Brand New Cherry Flavor Code Main role
Nine Perfect Strangers Yao Main role (season 1)
2023–present Hailey's On It! Scott Denoga Main voice role
2024 Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur Brian Glory / Blue Streak Voice role; episode: "Roller Jam!"
Chibiverse Scott Denoga Voice role; episode: "The Chibi Couple Game"
The Acolyte † Qimir Post-production

Awards and nominations

Year Association Category Work Result
2016 Leo Awards Best Supporting Performance by a Male in a Dramatic Series The Romeo Section Nominated
2018 Gold Derby Awards Ensemble of the Year The Good Place Nominated

References

  1. ^ a b "Manny Jacinto". TV Guide. Archived from the original on July 11, 2019. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  2. ^ "Full Interview || Character Conversations: Tan France & Manny Jacinto". Character Media. February 4, 2019. Archived from the original on December 14, 2019. Retrieved September 6, 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d Hoekstra, Matthew (September 23, 2014). "20 questions with Manny Jacinto". Richmond Review. Richmond, British Columbia. Archived from the original on October 6, 2016. Retrieved November 16, 2018. The 27-year-old...
  4. ^ a b c "The Romeo Section Cast: Manny Jacinto". Archived from the original on January 7, 2017. Retrieved January 6, 2017.
  5. ^ a b Quadra-Balibay, Aurora (September 26, 2019). "Manny Jacinto to star alongside Tom Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick". Good News Pilipinas. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
  6. ^ "Manny Jacinto's Comforting Escape". Bustle. Retrieved June 18, 2022.
  7. ^ Chavez, Yong (December 7, 2016). "Manny Jacinto on 'The Good Place'". ABS-CBN News. Archived from the original on August 11, 2018. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  8. ^ a b "Manny Jacinto on The Good Place". Balitang America. Archived from the original on August 11, 2018. Retrieved October 31, 2017.
  9. ^ Nguyen, Kevin (February 1, 2018). "Manny Jacinto Is No Dummy—He Just Plays One on 'The Good Place'". GQ. Archived from the original on February 8, 2018. Retrieved February 9, 2018.
  10. ^ "Manny Jacinto – The Good Place". Starry Constellation Magazine. October 5, 2017. Archived from the original on March 31, 2019. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  11. ^ Soloski, Alexis (November 22, 2019). "Manny Jacinto of 'The Good Place' Plummets to Earth". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on April 11, 2020. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
  12. ^ "Manny Jacinto of 'The Good Place' puts a lot of thought into lovable dummy Jason Mendoza". Los Angeles Times. May 8, 2019. Archived from the original on July 16, 2019. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
  13. ^ Raphael, Philip. "Engineering a career in show business". Richmond News. Richmond, British Columbia. Archived from the original on May 5, 2019. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  14. ^ "Manny Jacinto is No Dummy—He Just Plays One on 'The Good Place'". February 2018. Archived from the original on February 8, 2018. Retrieved February 9, 2018.
  15. ^ "Manny Jacinto". NBCUniversal. Archived from the original on August 11, 2018. Retrieved October 31, 2017.
  16. ^ Petski, Denise (March 3, 2016). "Good Place NBC comedy series casts Manny Jacinto; Julie Goldman joins ABC's Weeks/Mackay Project". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on February 1, 2017. Retrieved January 6, 2017.
  17. ^ "'You never see a dumb Asian on network television': The Good Place's Manny Jacinto on playing against type". CBC Radio. July 23, 2018. Archived from the original on November 12, 2018. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
  18. ^ Grubb, Brian (January 11, 2018). "Jason Mendoza From 'The Good Place' Is The Best Doofus On Television". Uproxx. Archived from the original on July 11, 2019. Retrieved January 30, 2018. Note: Archive requires scrooldown.
  19. ^ Mathews, Liam (September 29, 2016). "The Good Place Just Found Its Tom Haverford". TV Guide. Archived from the original on November 29, 2019. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  20. ^ Hwang, Sora (Spring 2017). "The Good Place's Manny Jacinto on Playing a Non-Stereotypical Asian Role". Mochi. Archived from the original on January 31, 2018. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  21. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (September 27, 2018). "'Top Gun: Maverick' Taps 'The Good Place's Manny Jacinto For Pilot Duty". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on September 28, 2018. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
  22. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (November 15, 2019). "N'Brand New Cherry Flavor' Series Headlined By Rosa Salazar A Go At Netflix; Catherine Keener, Eric Lange, Jeff Ward & Manny Jacinto Co-Star In Horror Adaptation". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
  23. ^ Cordero, Rosy (July 19, 2021). "Rosa Salazar Goes Dark In Netflix's 'Brand New Cherry Flavor' Teaser Trailer". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 19, 2021.
  24. ^ "'Hailey's On It!', an Animated Comedy-Adventure Series About a Teen Who Must Overcome Her Fears in Order To Save the World, Greenlit by Disney Branded Television" (Press release). Disney Branded Television. November 18, 2021. Archived from the original on February 8, 2022 – via Disney General Entertainment Content.
  25. ^ "Marigold Breach".
  26. ^ "The Good Place's Manny Jacinto Engaged to Longtime Girlfriend Dianne Doan". PEOPLE.com. Archived from the original on February 1, 2020. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
  27. ^ Morales, Nicole Limos (March 8, 2019). "Manny Jacinto Is Definitely in a Good Place: The Filipino-Born Actor on His Journey to Hollywood". Town & Country. Archived from the original on July 11, 2019. Retrieved July 11, 2019. I moved to Los Angeles because of the show [The Good Place] when Vancouver was my home, so that was a huge change.
  28. ^ "Fox Heavy Hitters Celebrate Drew Goddard's 'Bad Times at the El Royale'". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on October 2, 2018. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  29. ^ "Mamoru Hosoda's Belle Film Reveals English Trailer, Dub Cast". Anime News Network. December 9, 2021. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
  30. ^ "Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind Voice Cast and Plot Details Revealed". August 3, 2022.

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