Manny Jacinto Opens Up About His ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Role Being Cut Down

The Acolyte star Manny Jacinto sounded off to GQ about his promising role in Top Gun: Maverick being drastically minimized. “Tom Cruise is writing stories for Tom Cruise,” Jacinto said by way of explanation.

Jacinto was an accomplished and well-known actor before appearing in Maverick, having anchored series such as The Good Place, Brand New Cherry Flavor, and Nine Perfect Strangers; but he’s little more than a background extra in Joseph Kosinski’s massively successful follow-up to 1986’s Top Gun.

Despite playing a fellow pilot in most of the scenes featuring Cruise and the other main characters, including Glen Powell and Miles Teller, Jacinto has no lines in Maverick and barely appears on screen. With a few exceptions, he’s consistently glimpsed in the far background of the scenes he occupies.

Jacinto told GQ that it was “flattering that there was a little bit of an outcry” over his minimized role once the movie came out, the turn of events “wasn’t shocking to me.”

Jacinto elaborated: “There was this sense of where the film was going [on set], like I can see them focusing the camera more on these [other] guys and not taking so much time on our scenes. Fortunately, it still was a great experience—you get to see this huge machine at work, see how Tom Cruise works, and you get to be a small part of this huge franchise.”

Jacinto admitted to a level of disappointment at being sidelined in the blockbuster, which shot Teller and Powell into the Hollywood stratosphere. Ultimately, though, it taught the actor that he has to create his own opportunities in the business.

“It kind of fuels you, because at the end of the day, Tom Cruise is writing stories for Tom Cruise,” he said. “It’s up to us—Asian Americans, people of color—to be that [for ourselves]. We can’t wait for somebody else to do it. If we want bigger stories out there, we have to make them for ourselves.”

Jacinto is currently starring as “The Stranger” on The Acolyte, which is streaming on Disney+.