“The Acolyte” star Manny Jacinto opens up about his actual “Star Wars ”role

The newly revealed villain talks about killing all those Jedi.

Warning: This article contains spoilers about Star Wars: The Acolyte episode 5.

He’s done it again. Manny Jacinto knows a little something about playing one character pretending to be another, thanks to his time on The Good Place. The shocking reveal that his unspeaking Taiwanese Buddhist Monk was actually a Jacksonville party boy remains one of this century’s greatest pop-culture reveals. Now he can add another to the list.

Entertainment Weekly’s new cover story on The Acolyte goes behind the scenes with all the scoop on the episode 5 unmasking of the show’s main villain so far — an unmasking that announced Jacinto (previously seen as goofy apothecary Qimir) as a mysterious Sith Lord, a character known only as the Stranger. The Stranger brutally cut down multiple Jedi, including main characters Jecki Lon (Dafne Keen) and Yord Fandar (Charlie Barnett).

EW sat down exclusively with Jacinto to talk all about letting the Loth-cat out of the bag on his true character, the changes he was able to make during filming, and why the Stranger is a total cheater when it comes to fighting.

Lucasfilm Ltd Manny Jacinto on 'The Acolyte'

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How excited were you to finally let loose and strut your stuff in episode 5?

MANNY JACINTO: This was the first time I really got to dig into something with so much action and really make use of my dance background. And I was just like, "Let me do everything. I want to do everything." And they let me do most of it. I just felt so gratified to be able to jump into that suit, jump into that helmet. I mean, it was a pain in the butt. [Laughs] Everything looks so cool with the cape and the helmet and everything, but when you're in it and you have to actually physically fight in it, you can't breathe. You can't see. But luckily, I had a good amount of training to just prepare myself for those elements beforehand.

I was wondering what the visibility was like and how you were seeing through that thing. I don't know if you have any peripheral vision at all.

I should show you the prototype that we had. It is basically just those construction earphones that blocks all the sounds, and it was duct taped to a sun visor, and then there are these little holes. And I would practice with that, so that I would mimic the lack of hearing and also the lack of vision. We had three different masks. We had one which was the hero mask, which is what it looks like on screen. And then you have one stunt mask, which have eye holes that are a bit bigger. And then the third one, which is just even bigger eye slits and a bigger breathing hole. So depending on how far we are, we can choose a different mask so that I can actually see and breathe.

Lucasfilm Ltd Manny Jacinto on 'The Acolyte'

What was it like filming fight scene after fight scene in episode 5? You mix it up with pretty much everybody.

I had almost four months to train for that flight scene. This was the first time I really got to dig into something with so much action and really make use of my dance background. We worked on everything. We did boxing, we worked on kicks, we worked on all the choreography. It was tough. They conditioned my body so that I could get through this five-person fight scene.

So what is your take on this character of Stranger?

Basically, we wanted a character that was not just oppressive and powerful, but we wanted a character that when you see him, you feel disturbed by him almost. That's why a lot of the music and a lot of the effects, it's almost like horror. We really approached it in that type of sense. We wanted a character that isn't just a Darth Vader type of guy who overpowers the screen, but it's like when you see him, it's just like, “Oh, did I actually see that?” It’s the concept of the uncanny. It can be a stumble in a person's walk or a twitch in somebody's eye. It's very subtle, and it's just like this uncomfortableness that people experience, and that's what we wanted to hone in on for this Sith Lord.

What drives him? Obviously that he wants an apprentice, but what is his driving force? No pun intended.

He embraces his anger, his emotions, and the fact that he can't be that. Survival is basically is what's driving him, and just about being able to be himself in a society that doesn't accept him. It's like: What do you do when you're brought into this world and people don't like you for who you are? And to be able to spread that philosophy to somebody else, to an acolyte, basically.

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Rachell Smith Manny Jacinto of 'The Acolyte' at Star Wars Celebration 2023 EW Portraits

Tell me about filming the death scenes with Dafne and Charlie, especially that neck snapping scene?

We were talking about how this guy doesn't play fair. He just doesn't abide by the rules. So I was like: What would be cool is if he had a hidden dagger somewhere, and that he could use it and he could bring that up because that doesn't feel Jedi. It feels like it's like a cheap shot, almost. Then I was talking to Guillermo, one of our stunt coordinators, and I was like, “It'd be cool if he could just get another saber, and that's how he would kill Jecki.” And then I talked to Leslye and we were on the same page about it. Then [second unit director] Christopher Cowan came up with the idea of mixing the reveal along with the reveal of Jecki’s death.

So many things are happening. You have me getting unmasked, you have Jecki’s death, and you have the reveal of the weapon. Three major things happen in that one moment, which is so incredible, and I'm so glad it happened that way because we were trying to figure out, “Oh, should we just have him take off the mask? What's a cool way to do it?” But our stunt guys came up with that sequence and I thought it was just beautiful.

And then the thing with Charlie, I felt so bad when we had to do it, but Charlie is such a sport. He just sells it. It’s not on me to do it, it's really about the guy that gets taken out to really sell it, and Charlie just killed it, no pun intended.

Rachell Smith Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, and Charlie Barnett of 'The Acolyte' at Star Wars Celebration 2023

I know this was a very collaborative process and you had suggestions for your character along the way. What was that process like?

I remember we were rehearsing the initial scene with me and Mae and we were having trouble with it. And then I remember Leslye goes, “So Mae comes in here and then Qimir is just waking up. And then he would say…” and she just points at me. I paused and I'm like, “Oh, you want me to say what I would like?” She wanted my opinion. It wasn't just me acting or me saying these memorized lines. She wanted my contribution, which felt so powerful. So we really came up together with that scene of me making the poison while saying the lines, so it added all these layers. And so that was an aspect of it.

And then it was initially supposed to be Amandla as Mae that was supposed to be hanging upside down in episode 4. I was like, “It doesn't really make sense. How about if I end up hanging upside down?” And then Leslye was like, “Oh yeah, I think that works.” So then I unfortunately had to hang upside down for episode 4. [Laughs]

That’s cool that she knows her Star Wars stuff so deeply but is also open to different perspectives when they fit.

Yeah, this is honestly what happens when you have a showrunner that is actually a true fan of the material. I remember in rehearsal I would be like, “Do I have to say this line?” And then Leslye would be like, “Oh, this is actually a line from A New Hope. We actually kind of need this one.” I'm just like, “Oh, okay.” She's so passionate about Star Wars and I just want to give Leslye all the flowers and all the love because it is really a tribute to the fans that really, really love Star Wars. She's such a true fan.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.