Manny Jacinto

Manuel Luis Jacinto[1] (/dʒəˈsɪntoʊ/;[2] born August 19, 1987[3]) is a Filipino-born Canadian actor. After several small roles on television, his breakout role came starring as Jason Mendoza on the NBC sitcom The Good Place (2016–2020). He has appeared as Waring 'Wade' Espiritu in the neo-noir thriller film Bad Times at the El Royale (2018) and as Fritz in the upcoming action drama film Top Gun: Maverick (2021).

Manny Jacinto
Jacinto in 2018
Born
Manuel Luis Jacinto

(1987-08-19) August 19, 1987
Manila, Philippines
NationalityCanadian
Alma materUniversity of British Columbia
OccupationActor
Years active2012–present

Early life

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

He earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering at the University of British Columbia.[8][11][12]

Career

While interning, Jacinto participated in hip-hop dance competitions[13] before eventually transitioning into acting as a career.[4][7] He became frustrated by the lack of other Asian actors in Vancouver and relocated 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 Jianyu Li / Jason Mendoza in the NBC comedy The Good Place.[16] Jacinto has received favorable critical notice for his performance as Mendoza, the 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]

Personal life

In November 2019, Jacinto announced that he was engaged to Canadian actress Dianne Doan.[22] He resides in Los Angeles, California, U.S.[23]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
2012 Broken Sword: Shadow of the Blade Kenji Short film
2013 Tele Tommy Short film
2013 John Apple Jack Street Kid
2013 #Fix Adam Short film
2015 Dead Rising: Watchtower Desk Soldier
2015 Even Lambs Have Teeth Vince
2015 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 [24]
2021 Top Gun: Maverick Fritz Post-production

Television
Year Title Role Notes
2013 Once Upon a Time Quon Episode: "Selfless, Brave and True"[1]
2013 Supernatural Diego Episode: "Pac-Man Fever"
2013 Untold Stories of the E.R. Security Guard Episode: "Down for the Count"
2014 The 100 Boy #1 / Boy Bullied by Murphy 2 episodes
2014 Rogue Bellhop Episode: "Oh Sarah"
2014 Lighthouse Sexy Guy Dancing Television film
2014 Rush P.A. Episode: "Because I Got High"
2014 The Unauthorized Saved by the Bell Story Eric Television film
2014 Paper Angels Jamie Lang Television film
2014 Only Human Kevin Television film
2015 Bates Motel Loner Guy Episode: "Unbreak-Able"
2015 iZombie Sammy Episode: "Liv and Let Clive"
2015 Backstrom Tattooed Punk Episode: "Corkscrewed"
2015 Wayward Pines Lab Assistant Episode: "Choices"
2015 The Romeo Section Wing Lei 10 episodes
2016 Roadies Runner Episode: "Life Is a Carnival"
2016–2020 The Good Place Jianyu Li / Jason Mendoza 50 episodes
2017 The Good Doctor Bobby Ato Episode: "Sacrifice"
TBA Magical Girl Friendship Squad Coffee Dude 2 episodes
TBA Brand New Cherry Flavor TBA Main cast
TBA Nine Perfect Strangers Yao Upcoming miniseries

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
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References
  1. "Manny Jacinto". TVGuide.com. 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. "Facebook: The Good Place post". NBC. August 19, 2019. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
  4. "The Romeo Section Cast: Manny Jacinto". Archived from the original on January 7, 2017. Retrieved January 6, 2017.
  5. 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. 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.
  7. "Manny Jacinto on The Good Place". Balitang America. Archived from the original on August 11, 2018. Retrieved October 31, 2017.
  8. 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...
  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. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on February 8, 2018. Retrieved February 9, 2018.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  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. "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.
  23. 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.
  24. "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.
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