‘The Acolyte’ – Manny Jacinto Delves into The Stranger’s Psyche
Manny Jacinto has delved deep into what makes The Stranger tick, along with how uncomfortable it was wearing the helmet and what interested him about the role on The Acolyte in the first place.
It’s safe to say very few Star Wars fans were surprised by the reveal that Qimir was in fact Mae’s dark master all along in The Acolyte, but that didn’t stop Manny from practicing the turn from bumbling lackey into menacing villain. He apparently practiced that transition when heading to the grocery store before filming, in what must have been deeply unsettling for the poor staff member at the check out.
According to StarWars.com, the character was inspired by Jack Sparrow and Kikushiyo in Seven Samurai, but that transition from harmless to fearsome was inspired by Jackie Chan’s Drunken Master.
“You think he’s just a drunk, but he’s actually a kung fu badass. The Stranger was just a bit more grounded. Isolation was a good and a bad thing, but it was very beneficial in trying to mold the characters. It was just chaos and stillness and balancing those within those two [personae].”
Manny’s enthusiasm on playing The Stranger was already hinted at in an interview last week with Dafne Keen and Charlie Barnett when he mentioned the draw in playing two different personalities, but here he expands on it a bit more.
“When we first met, Leslye and I talked about how you approach a lower status character and then convert him into this complete badass. That was the problem from the jump. What appealed to me about The Acolyte, this whole story and the character of Qimir and his shift into what we call the Stranger, is that everything was a huge challenge. And I just love a good challenge. I love being able to build characters that we’ve never seen before from the ground up.”
Many fans have claimed that The Acolyte‘s latest episode has one of the best lightsaber duels since the prequel trilogy, and we know that was certainly the ambition of the cast and crew to create something on that level. Manny Jacinto’s background as a dancer helped him prepare for the action choreography — most of which he did himself, even with the helmet on — and apparently the brief was for him to move and fight very differently from the Jedi and Sith we saw in those movies.
“We wanted the Stranger to move very differently from what you’ve seen in the prequels and in the original trilogy. If you compare them, you’ll notice that it’s very much an upright fencing type of structure to the fighting. Whereas with the Stranger, we really wanted to be very fluid. We wanted him to move like something we’ve never seen before: quick, yet powerful, but also sneaky. And in order to have all these things, you had to be strong, but also flexible and dynamic.”
There was an intention to make The Stranger deliberately unsettling, almost like a horror villain. Manny claimed the costume played a big part in selling that scarier side.
“In terms of the costume itself, [costume designer] Jennifer Bryan created this beautiful silhouette for the Stranger. When it moved, it was very much just like water. It added to the mystery of the Stranger. You didn’t know what he was, if he was human or alien or if he was a robot.
“I love Leslye so much. She had a very specific need to approach the Stranger in almost a horror-style type of way. We talked a lot about the concept of the uncanny, when you watch a horror movie and it’s not an explicit jump scare, but you see something and it’s a little off. Maybe somebody has a twitch in their eye or a misstep. We really honed in on that.”
Leslye Headland added that part of The Stranger’s motivation comes from a feeling that seems pretty relatable to a lot of minority groups in our own modern society. He wants to live his life how he wants, but feels he can’t be himself in the current system. Obviously, as a potential Sith that still means a lot of people will be hurt if he isn’t stopped, but in terms of finding a relatable motive for a villain, it’s a pretty good one.
“Manny is out of control in the show. In episode five he says something that I would say is a good summation of how I feel moving through the world, which is that all he wants is freedom.
“When he says, ‘the Jedi say I can’t exist,’there is something about my experience in the world that has felt that way to me. That sometimes walking through life, with its highs and lows, can feel like you’re not allowed to be yourself, that you have to follow certain rules of society, or the expectation that you might feel on your shoulders. To be free of that is something I find really enticing.”
Intriguingly, Manny Jacinto went on to talk about how someone might be seduced to the dark side. I certainly didn’t expect the show to start delving into The Stranger’s backstory and why he became a dark sider, but it sounds like that’s what might be about to happen.
“How does one get seduced by the dark side? I was very intrigued by that, when [Headland] mentioned that, it’s such an interesting concept. Because with seduction, you have empathy and vulnerability. And that was really appealing to me because we never really see that in the Sith or in the dark side. It was a lot to explore.”
Manny also revealed that while the mask looks cool and menacing, it was deeply uncomfortable to film in. He had to train fighting with a cloth over his face to get used to having his sight and breathing restricted while moving.
“It’s aesthetically beautiful, but it is the worst utility-wise. You can’t see anything. You can’t breathe in it. I kept that in mind, just to get used to not being able to breathe. Then I would wear this apparatus, like construction-meets-sound-engineer, and I would practice with that.”
Finally, Manny says he is enjoying being recognized for his new role in The Acolyte, though he jokes that he still finds it weird being a “civilian” again after spending the better part of a year practicing being a shady smuggler/potential Sith while going about his daily life.
“It’s so beautiful when other people appreciate the work that we did because we are just so proud. But it’s just like a cherry on top to have the love come through.
“It was this eight-month process of just being isolated and thinking about this character constantly and doing stunts and working out and making sure that I got this character down. And when I got back to the real world, I joked that it’s weird being a civilian again. It’s weird just being a normal person whereas before I truly felt like I was some sort of darker entity or some sort of smuggler or isolated Sith, you know? But I think I came out of it. Maybe. We’ll see. Give me more time.”
We’re set to learn even more about Qimir/The Stranger when Manny Jacinto next appears in the final three episodes of The Acolyte.
Josh is a huge Star Wars fan, who has spent far too much time wondering if any Star Wars character could defeat Thanos with all the Infinity Stones.
