Star Wars actor Manny Jacinto said there aren’t enough Asian characters in Hollywood films and that more stories should be written for people of his race.
Jacinto, who starred in the critically-criticized “Star Wars” series “The Acolyte,” reflected on his time filming “Top Gun: Maverick” in the interview. GQ.
He commented on the fact that most of his lines were cut, saying the result was largely consistent with the idea that producer and star Tom Cruise was making a film for white people.
“At the end of the day, Tom Cruise is writing the story for Tom Cruise.”
“I’m glad there was some protest, but it wasn’t a shock to me,” Jacinto said of his role being scaled down in the film.
“I had a sense of where the film was going. [on set]You can see that they’re focusing the camera more on these things. [other] “They don’t spend a lot of time on our scenes, but luckily it was still an amazing experience. I got to see this huge machine working, I got to see how Tom Cruise works, and I got to be a part of this huge franchise,” he explained.
Jacinto said such experiences are “motivating” because “at the end of the day, Tom Cruise is writing the story for Tom Cruise.”
“Whether we are Asian Americans, whether we are people of color, [for ourselves]We can’t wait for someone else to do it. If we want to put a bigger story out there, we have to create it ourselves.”
“Acolyte” seems to fit that diversity effort, according to Jacinto, who said he felt it was significant to have an actor of his race in the “Star Wars” franchise.
“I think there are a lot of Star Wars fans out there like you and me. [in ‘The Acolyte’]”But this new iteration has Lee Jung-jae, myself and Amandla in it, and we’re really excited about it,” he told the GQ writer, who is also Asian. [Stenberg], [and] “Jodie Turner-Smith,” he added, “will enable many more people of color to identify with, enjoy and see themselves in Star Wars.”
The Star Wars projects (Episodes I-III) that were released when Jacinto was young were certainly diverse, but apparently not enough to satisfy him.
“I remember watching movies with my parents as a kid. [but] To be honest [‘Star Wars’] It was cool and I admired it, but I mostly watched it from afar. Maybe it was because there was no one like me in Star Wars, but I wasn’t something I admired, like watching a Jackie Chan movie and thinking, “Oh, I want to do that too.”
Creator George Lucas spoke about this issue of diversity and representation at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.
“They’ll say, ‘They’re all white.’ [but] Most people are aliens!”
“The idea is to accept people as they are, whether they’re big and hairy or green or whatever. The idea is that everyone is equal,” he continued. Independent. “At first [movie] There were some dark-skinned Tunisians, Billy Williams in the second film, [prequels]They criticized it, but I had Sam Jackson. He wasn’t a bad guy like Lando. He was one of the top Jedi.”
To fend off further criticism, Lucas also addressed complaints that the women in his films were too stereotypically feminine.
“You can’t just put a woman in trousers and make her a hero. A woman can wear a dress or whatever she wants to wear,” he said, noting that female characters are the driving force behind the film.
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