“Top Gun: Maverick” actor Manny Jacinto is opening up about his surprisingly brief appearance in the film that prompted uproar and disappointment among fans at the time.
Jacinto, who currently stars in the Disney+ “Star Wars” series “The Acolyte,” addressed the way in which his “Top Gun” character, Lt. Billy “Fritz” Avalone, was reduced to a few seconds on screen with no speaking lines. In an interview with GQ released Wednesday, Jacinto said despite his months of preparation for the film, his short appearance “wasn’t shocking to me.”
“It kind of fuels you, because at the end of the day, Tom Cruise is writing stories for Tom Cruise,” Jacinto, who’s Filipino Canadian, told the outlet. “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 2022 film, the sequel to the 1986 blockbuster, follows Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, played by Cruise, as he returns to the naval flight academy to train a new class of pilots. Jacinto, whose character is among those in the class and was featured in the background of a couple scenes, said he underwent grueling flight training as well as demanding gym sessions to prepare for the role, especially since minimal CGI was used for the scenes.
When the film came out, Jacinto wasn’t the only one who noticed his lack of screen time. Fans took to social media to express their disappointment, with many saying the film wasted his acting chops. Jacinto told GQ the outcry was “flattering,” but he had a hunch that his role would get shrunk.
“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,” Jacinto said. “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.”
Cruise did not respond to NBC News’ request for comment. But director Joseph Kosinski addressed the controversy in an interview with IndieWire at the time, explaining the decision to cut down not only Jacinto’s role, but also those of actors Jack Schumacher, Jake Picking, Raymond Lee and Kara Wang, who played fellow fighter pilots.
“You just don’t have room to fit everything in,” Kosinski said. “When you’re coming down to the final cut and focusing on the story you’re telling, stuff has to fall away for the good of the film.”
He added that the cuts had “nothing to do with their performance or their abilities at all.”
“It only has to do with the story of the film and trying to make the best version,” Kosinski said.
These days, Jacinto is front and center on screen. His performance in “The Acolyte” as Qimir, a Sith Lord, has drawn acclaim from viewers.
Hoai-Tran Bui, entertainment editor at Inverse, posted on X: “the great thing about the qimir twist is manny jacinto’s performance instantly elevated THE ACOLYTE into another stratosphere.”
