Star Wars: The Acolyte’s Manny Jacinto Reflects on His Top Gun: Maverick Role Being Cut Down

Manny Jacinto first made waves playing the lovable doofus Jason Mendoza on The Good Place, and now TV watchers are falling for him all over again thanks to Star Wars: The Acolyte. In addition to dominating the small screen, Jacinto also appeared in Top Gun: Maverick, the second-most successful movie of 2022. Jacinto played Lt. Billy “Fritz” Avalone, but his part was severely cut down. In fact, all of the actor’s lines were cut, and he’s mostly just seen in the background of scenes. During an interview with GQ, Jacinto reflected on his Top Gun experience. He revealed that he didn’t know his role was cut down until the movie hit theaters, and he remembers getting some support from fans.

“It’s flattering that there was a little bit of an outcry, but it wasn’t shocking to me,” Jacinto shared. “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 added. “It kind of fuels you, because at the end of the day, Tom Cruise is writing stories for Tom Cruise,” Jacinto explained. “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.”

Is Top Gun 3 Happening? 

There were 36 years between the release of Top Gun and Top Gun: Maverick, and while fans won’t have to wait that long for a third installment, the movie isn’t expected any time soon. It was revealed earlier this year a third installment is in the works with franchise star, Tom Cruise. Since the movie’s announcement, producer Jerry Bruckheimer has offered some updates about the project. In his latest chat with Games Radar at the Young Woman and the Sea premiere, Bruckheimer revealed the threequel is still in the early stages. 

“We had preliminary stuff,” Bruckheimer said when asked if he’s had conversations with Cruise. “We’re not there yet. [There’s] ways to go.” 

“It will be Tom Cruise,” Bruckheimer assured Screen Rant in March when asked about Top Gun 3. “Tom is amazing. We spent time with him. We have a story. [Director] Joe Kosinski had a wonderful story idea for it, and he [Cruise] said ‘I really like that’ so we’re developing it. But you never know when it’s going to get made because Tom is so busy. He’s doing Mission: Impossible right now, he’s got a picture after it. Hopefully, we’ll get a screenplay that he loves, and we’ll be back in the air again.”

You can watch Manny Jacinto in Star Wars: The Acolyte on Disney+.