Manuel Luis Jacinto ( ; born August 19, 1987) is a Canadian actor born in

the Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. After several small roles on television, his breakout role came starring as Jason Mendoza on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

The Good Place ''The Good Place'' is an American fantasy comedy television series created by Michael Schur. It premiered on NBC on September 19, 2016, and concluded on January 30, 2020, after four seasons and 53 episodes. Although the plot evolves significa ...

'' (2016–2020). He has appeared as Waring 'Wade' Espiritu in the neo-noir thriller film ''

Bad Times at the El Royale ''Bad Times at the El Royale'' is a 2018 American neo-noir thriller film written, directed, and produced by Drew Goddard. It stars an ensemble cast consisting of Jeff Bridges, Cynthia Erivo, Dakota Johnson, Jon Hamm, Cailee Spaeny, Lewis Pull ...

'' (2018) and as Fritz in the action drama film '' Top Gun: Maverick'' (2022).

Early life

Jacinto was born in

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, and is of

Chinese Filipino Chinese Filipinos; tl, Tsinoy, / Tsinong Pilipino, ; Hokkien in the Philippines, Philippine Hokkien , Mandarin Chinese in the Philippines, Mandarin (also known as Filipino Chinese in the Philippines) are Filipinos of Chinese descent, mo ...

descent. His family immigrated to Canada in 1990, when he was about three years old. He was raised in

Richmond, British Columbia Richmond is a coastal city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. It occupies almost the entirety of Lulu Island (excluding Queensborough), between the two estuarine distributaries of the Fraser River. Encompassing the ad ...

. Jacinto grew up playing baseball and basketball, and attended an all-boys Catholic high school,

Vancouver College Vancouver College (abbreviated informally to VC) is an independent university-preparatory Catholic school for boys located in the Shaughnessy neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 1922, it is the only independent Catho ...

. He earned a bachelor's degree in

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage ...

at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

Career

While interning, Jacinto participated in hip-hop dance competitions before deciding on acting as a career. He became frustrated by the lack of other Asian actors in Vancouver and relocated to Los Angeles. After small roles in series including ''

Once Upon a Time "Once upon a time" is a stock phrase used to introduce a narrative of past events, typically in fairy tales and folk tales. It has been used in some form since at least 1380 (according to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'') in storytelling in the ...

'', ''

Supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

'' and '' iZombie'', he was cast in 2015 as triad leader Wing Lei in the Canadian spy drama ''

The Romeo Section ''The Romeo Section'' is a Canadian spy thriller television series created and written by Chris Haddock which debuted on October 14, 2015, on CBC Television. CBC renewed the series for a second season which began airing on October 5, 2016. The ...

'' by

Chris Haddock Chris Haddock is a Canadian screenwriter, producer and director best known as the creator and showrunner of the CBC Television series ''Da Vinci's Inquest'', ''Da Vinci's City Hall'', ''Intelligence'' and ''The Romeo Section''. He has won 14 ...

. The role won him a

Leo Award The Leo Awards are the awards program for the British Columbia film and television industry. Held each May or June in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the Leo Awards were founded by the Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Foundation of British C ...

nomination for Best Supporting Performance in a Dramatic Series. In 2016, Jacinto was cast as Jianyu Li / Jason Mendoza in the

comedy ''

''. Jacinto received favourable critical notice for his performance as Mendoza, the

EDM EDM or E-DM may refer to: Music * Electronic dance music * Early Day Miners, American band Science and technology * Electric dipole moment * Electrical discharge machining * Electronic distance measurement *Entry, Descent, and landing demonstrat ...

-obsessed "lovable doofus" from

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

, going against stereotypes of how Asian men are often portrayed in Hollywood. In September 2018, Jacinto was cast in the ''

Top Gun ''Top Gun'' is a 1986 American action drama film directed by Tony Scott, produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, with distribution by Paramount Pictures. The screenplay was written by Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr., and was inspired by an a ...

'' sequel, '' Top Gun: Maverick'', starring

Tom Cruise Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Gol ...

. In November 2019, it was announced that Jacinto would appear in a main role on the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

horror drama miniseries ''

Brand New Cherry Flavor ''Brand New Cherry Flavor'' is an American horror drama streaming television limited series created by Nick Antosca and Lenore Zion, based on the novel of the same name by Todd Grimson. The cast includes Rosa Salazar, Catherine Keener, Eric Lan ...

''. The miniseries was released on August 13, 2021. In November 2021, it was announced that Jacinto would be voicing the character Scott in the animated comedy-adventure series, ''Hailey’s On It!'', which is slated to premiere in 2023. In 2022, Jacinto voiced the character Lucan in the eight-episode sci-fi podcast Marigold Breach, alongside his Good Place co-star

Jameela Jamil Jameela Alia Jamil (born 25 February 1986) is a British actress and presenter. She began her career on Channel 4, where she hosted a pop culture series in the T4 strand from 2009 until 2012. She then became the radio host of ''The Official Cha ...

Personal life

In November 2019, Jacinto announced that he was engaged to fellow Canadian actress

Dianne Doan Dianne Doan (born September 8, 1990) is a Canadian actress. She is known for portraying Lonnie in the Disney Channel Original Movies '' Descendants'' and '' Descendants 2''. Early life Doan was born and raised in Abbotsford, British Columbia ...

. He lives in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jacinto, Manny Living people Male actors from Manila Canadian male actors of Chinese descent Canadian male actors of Filipino descent Canadian male television actors Canadian male voice actors People from Richmond, British Columbia Filipino emigrants to Canada University of British Columbia alumni 21st-century Canadian male actors 1987 births Canadian male film actors