Manny Jacinto wasn’t surprised to discover all of his lines had been cut from Top Gun: Maverick.

The Acolyte star spent months undergoing a physical transformation and flight training alongside Miles Teller and Glen Powell to prepare for Tom Cruise’s long-awaited Top Gun sequel.

However, when the film was released in 2022, Jacinto discovered that all of his dialogue had been cut and his character Lieutenant Billy ‘Fritz’ Avalone had been reduced to a background role.

While fans of The Good Place star were outraged by his lack of screen time, the Filipino-Canadian actor was not totally surprised.

“It’s flattering that there was a little bit of an outcry, but it wasn’t shocking to me,” Jacinto told GQ. “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.”

Despite only having seconds of screen time in the final cut, the Nine Perfect Strangers star still had “a great experience” making the critically acclaimed blockbuster.

“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,” he added.

However, Jacinto admitted that the situation fuelled his determination to create stories for himself and fellow Asian actors.

“It kind of fuels you, because at the end of the day, Tom Cruise is writing stories for Tom Cruise,” he explained. “It’s up to us – Asian Americans, people of colour – 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.”

Jacinto is currently filming the sequel to Freaky Friday alongside Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan.

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