The Acolyte star Manny Jacinto has reflected on his Top Gun: Maverick role, saying he didn't feel "shocked" when he realized all his dialogue was cut from the 2022 blockbuster.
Jacinto joined the cast of Top Gun: Maverick to play a character called Lt. Billy "Fritz" Avalone, but his lines ended up on the cutting room floor. The actor spoke out about this experience in a recent GQ profile, saying he appreciates his fans were upset by it, but he holds no grudges over the decision to reduce his screen time.
"It's flattering that there was a little bit of an outcry, but it wasn't shocking to me," Jacinto said of his diminished role in the Top Gun sequel.
"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," he added. "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 didn't let the experience phase him and ultimately used it as motivation to advance in his career. He has since gained widespread recognition as Qimir, aka The Stranger, in the Disney+ Star Wars series The Acolyte, which premiered its first two episodes on June 4, with the following six episodes released weekly.
"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."
The sequel to 1986's Top Gun brought Cruise back as Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell to tell a story with new and returning characters that received universal praise. Not only did the movie have a ton of heart, but the high-speed scenes with fighter jets were achieved using unprecedented practical effects.
Top Gun: Maverick wound up being Cruise's top-grossing movie of all time, earning $1.5 billion at the worldwide box office. A third Top Gun movie is reportedly in the works at Paramount as the studio looks to reunite Cruise with Miles Teller and Glen Powell (Cruise's younger-gen co-stars introduced in the sequel).
Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on X/Twitter here.
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