Manny Jacinto


Manuel Luis Jacinto is a Filipino-born Canadian actor. After several small roles on television, his breakout role came starring as Jason Mendoza on the NBC sitcom The Good Place. He has appeared as Waring 'Wade' Espiritu in the neo-noir thriller film Bad Times at the El Royale and as Fritz in the action drama film .

Early life

Jacinto was born in Manila, Philippines and is of Chinese-Filipino descent. His family emigrated to Canada in 1990, when he was about three years old. He was raised in Richmond, British Columbia. Jacinto grew up playing baseball and basketball, and attended an all-boys Catholic high school, Vancouver College.
He earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering at the University of British Columbia.

Career

While interning, Jacinto participated in hip-hop dance competitions before eventually transitioning into 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, Supernatural and iZombie, he was cast in 2015 as triad leader Wing Lei in the Canadian spy drama The Romeo Section by Chris Haddock. The role won him a Leo Award nomination for Best Supporting Performance in a Dramatic Series.
In 2016, Jacinto was cast as Jianyu Li / Jason Mendoza in the NBC comedy The Good Place. Jacinto has received favorable critical notice for his performance as Mendoza, the EDM-obsessed "lovable doofus" from Jacksonville, Florida, going against stereotypes of how Asian men are often portrayed in Hollywood.
In September 2018, Jacinto was cast in the Top Gun sequel, , starring Tom Cruise.

Personal life

In November 2019, Jacinto announced that he was engaged to Canadian actress Dianne Doan. He resides in Los Angeles, California, U.S.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations