‘Star Wars’ fans are obsessed with ‘The Good Place’ star Manny Jacinto, saying he’s “the best thing” about new series The Acolyte.
The new show is set 100 years before Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, and the show is streaming now on Disney+. The final episode lands today (July 16).
Online, fans have been quick to praise the show’s Manny Jacinto, who also starred as Jason Mendoza in The Good Place. In the show, Jacinto plays a seemingly happy-go-lucky, drunken apothecary named Qimir. However, in episode five, we learn he has a darker secret and one that has huge consequences for many in the show.
Fans have described him as “one of the best things” about the show while others have joked that that “can’t unsee” the character he plays in The Good Place when watching the new Star Wars show.
One fan said: “The Acolyte changed how I see Manny Jacinto forever!” while another added: “I was watching the Star Wars acolyte and then I just recognised an actor is also Jason Mendoza from the good place and now I can’t take the villain seriously.”
Check out some more of the reaction here:
knowing that tomorrow is the acolyte finale makes me both sad but eager to see how this series wraps up… i’m also super excited to see manny jacinto’s career flourish further… mans thinks he’ll be unemployed after this… i see so much transpiring and coming up for him
— elex (@missnhieuchuyen) July 16, 2024
Started watching the acolyte because of the manny jacinto edits and can confirm, worth it
— Laura Edith 🏳️🌈 (@laurahtide) July 15, 2024
watching the acolyte and the good place at the same time is so wild manny jacinto's range is so amazing
— Peko (@0BLIV1ON_) July 15, 2024
I’ve just started watching Star Wars for the first time, any tips for which series to watch (and in what order) after the movies? (Gonna watch the acolyte because I love manny Jacinto)
— Jasmine (@_jasminehahn) July 15, 2024
"The Acolyte" changed how I see Manny Jacinto forever! https://t.co/eMo4we9Uou
— Dan Grievous the Tikkes Fan (@DanGrievous) July 14, 2024
Omg this made me think of Manny Jacinto the actor in The Acolyte! He’s always been incredible but kinda slept on but he’s literally everywhere now lol
— alexis (@alexiswore) July 14, 2024
about to watch the acolyte solely for manny jacinto
— thilda, a chaotic neutral 🍉🍉🍉 (@thilda_yorketon) July 14, 2024
I have not watched The Acolyte. But I recently found out Jason Mendoza is in it, so now I gotta right???
— Aaron Jason Espinoza (@TheAgentOfDoom) July 15, 2024
I was watching the Star wars acolyte and then I just recognized an actor is also Jason Mendoza from the good place and now I can't take the villain seriously. pic.twitter.com/6ymhL3zk0r
— Bailey. (@leoBaileyTf) July 13, 2024
so you are telling me that jason mendoza from the good place and qimir from the acolyte is played by one man??!! 😭😭 pic.twitter.com/6k1mTfJrPy
— 🌸🫧 (@mayoninaise) July 10, 2024
Literally Jason Mendoza is the only good thing about the Acolyte
— Chad Determan (@cgdeterman) July 3, 2024
He's a genuinely competent actor. He proved that in squid games and carries that in the Acolyte.
He may have the best performance of the season. And I like Darth Mendoza too. That guy is also an incredible actor. He was one of the best parts of The Good Place (next to Janet ofc)
— MeyerTechRants (@MeyerRants) July 3, 2024
Why is Jason Mendoza the best thing about the Acolyte?
— Chad Determan (@cgdeterman) July 3, 2024
In a four-star review of The Acolyte, NME wrote: “As with everything in Star Wars, balance is everything – but it feels like Headland has managed to walk a finer line than most with The Acolyte. It’s new, without feeling unconnected. Pristine, but not too shiny. Fun, but still substantial. It feels like a place to grow from, as well as a worthy stand-alone story in its own right.”
In other news, The Acolyte star Amanda Stenberg has written and released a song in response to a racist backlash against the Star Wars prequel show.
Stenberg (The Hate U Give, Bodies Bodies Bodies) stars in the twin lead roles of Osha and Mae in the show. The two characters are raised by a coven of witches, led by Jodie Turner-Smith, and are separated by tragedy, with Osha training as a Jedi before lapsing, while Mae turns to the dark side.
Stenberg has said she has been “flooded” with “intolerable racism” from some of the show’s viewers since its release, and decided to write a song addressing the controversy in response.
Posting last month, she wrote: “Happy Juneteenth and to those who are flooding me with intolerable racism — since it took me 72 hours on my laptop to make this song and video, u got 72 hours to respond. and I expect choreo!!” You can find out more about the song here.