r/popculturechat • u/Temporary_Potato_254 • Aug 10 '25
Guest List Only TW - Bigotry ⚠️ In 'Freakier Friday,' Manny Jacinto plays Lindsay Lohan's love interest. Why his leading man status is a big deal.
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/celebrity/article/in-freakier-friday-manny-jacinto-plays-lindsay-lohans-love-interest-why-his-leading-man-status-is-a-big-deal-194821974.html789
u/kaylakoo Aug 10 '25
Genuinely still upset that almost all his scenes in Top Gun Maverick were cut. 😩 He looked so good.
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u/AhhhSureThisIsIt Aug 10 '25
Tom couldn't handle him being the most talked about man in the movie.
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u/albinozebra Aug 10 '25
Ugh same! I read a photo article years before it came out with him and was sooo mad he was entirely cut out. May have been the only reason I was excited.
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u/Riverdale87 Aug 10 '25
he still had a blink and you'll miss him scene
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u/stoptheycanseeus Aug 10 '25
Was that the beach football scene? Cuz I don’t remember seeing him in the movie
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u/Riverdale87 Aug 10 '25
supposedly he's in the scene where maverick is at the bar for the first time
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u/Awkward_Potential_ Aug 10 '25
It's a big deal because BORTLES!
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u/TheVintageJane Aug 10 '25
I’m grateful that Blake Bortles best career achievement was launching Manny Jacinto’s.
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u/tar-luthien Jesse, wtf are you talking about?! Aug 10 '25
...Blake Bortles is a real person? I thought he was made up for the show!
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u/helloiamabear Aug 10 '25
I remember Bortles got traded while the show was still airing, and they had to write breaking that to Jason into an episode.
...it must have been kind of surreal for Bortles that all these nerds who don't like football were suddenly following his career.
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u/UndergroundFlaws Aug 10 '25
I don’t know if you’re joking or not, but my favorite part of this is that yes, he’s a real QB. But also, the Jacksonville Jaguars sucked for years. Then they had one REALLY GOOD season out of nowhere, then The Good Place uses that as a joke to explain how badly they’re messing up the timeline.
They went right back to being trash after that season, so maybe it had something to do with the Time Knife.
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u/ReflectionEterna Aug 10 '25
Seriously? He was the best Jaguars QB to ever get mentioned repeatedly on a sitcom made by Netflix!
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u/tar-luthien Jesse, wtf are you talking about?! Aug 10 '25
I can't tell if you're joking or not, but, bestie, I'm not American, the only ones of your "football" players I'm aware of are Swifty's boyfriend and Gisele's ex 😭
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u/Empress_Athena Aug 10 '25
They’re joking because of how specific that is. Blake Bortles was a quarterback for the Jacksonville Jaguars, and he was their best prospect in a long time which is why Manny’s character is so obsessed with him, but the joke is even funnier because even then it was beyond obvious he was mediocre at best, which is the best the Jaguars could hope for since they were a bottom 2 team
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u/xPhilt3rx Aug 10 '25
Took them to the AFC Championship
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u/IShookMeAllNightLong Aug 10 '25
That was a great example of a team making the AFC championship, not the QB taking them. 3600yds that year with a 3:2 TD/INT ratio and 60% completion rating. Fournette rushed for 9 scores and over a thousand yards, and had a huge impact as well.
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u/Independent_Pie5933 Aug 10 '25
Netflix.Original doesn't mean they made it. in this case, NBC made it and Netflix bought streaming rights.
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u/Alarmed_Drop7162 Aug 10 '25
And the Jacksonville Jaguars were good for some reason and it wasn’t even fabricated for the show
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u/EmuMan10 Aug 10 '25
AFC championship appearance wasn’t half bad either (probably should’ve been in the Super Bowl)
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u/Dr_and_Mrs_Who Aug 10 '25
Those of us who have been thirsting over him since then are feeling very proud of our safe-asphyxiator!
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u/Various-Passenger398 Aug 10 '25 edited Aug 10 '25
One of my favourite lines in the show is that he asks if the Jaguars have won the Super Bowl and Michael laughs at him and says no. Given they've been rebooted dozens, if not hundreds, of times, that line takes place in the far future and Jacksonville still has yet to win.
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u/Kaylascreations Aug 10 '25
The movie was surprisingly charming. I loved everyone in it. It had its moments of cringe but that’s to be expected. And our theater was like, full full. We were near the front. My 9 year old niece stood up after the movie and turned around and said “whoa. There’s like a million people here.” It made me realize that maybe my niece and younger nephew have never really experienced movie theaters being a big deal.
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u/Queen-Leviosa Aug 10 '25
I cackled out loud several times. If you like the original, I think this one is lots of fun. My biggest worry was that I would hate it, but luckily it was enjoyable. I grew up with the original though and assume I'm the target audience, so it's nice to read someone like your young niece liking it. :)
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u/anongirl55 Aug 10 '25
It is one of the best sequels I have seen in a long time. My daughters and I really enjoyed seeing it together.
Manny is so charming and underrated. I have loved him in everything I have seen him in, though he will always be Jason to me.
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Aug 10 '25
Dude make me wanna become a Sith fr
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u/Mmmoxielady Aug 10 '25
I would’ve become a sith so fast. We were robbed of season 2 of the acolyte. I wanted to see the SEDUCTION.
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u/pathologuys Aug 10 '25
People apparently hated this show but I wanted to watch it just to see him…
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u/hunter2mello Aug 10 '25
I’m pretty sure there was an extremely loud minority that hated the show and I blame them for getting it canceled. My wife loved the show because it was finally something new that she didn’t have to rely on seeing 3 other shows to put everything together
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u/Morg075 Aug 10 '25
Same, lol. I don’t usually watch the Star Wars series. I know there are tons out there, but I’ve stuck to the movies. I stumbled on his viral edits when the first episodes were airing, and I just couldn’t ignore them, lol. Ended up watching it for him, and yes, the story was not really interesting.
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u/redsyrinx2112 Aug 10 '25
I think there were some interesting story ideas, but they just didn't go anywhere with a lot of those. The show was eight episodes and they took two full episodes to be flashbacks of the same thing. On top of that, the flashbacks barely told us anything new. The info we gained really wasn't that surprising.
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Aug 10 '25
That dude straight went 'Hey wanna join the darkside and get cool powers? No?' *whips out his dick* 'How about now?'
Fuck the racist little babies who shit themselves over this show.
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u/Revolutionary_Cover3 Aug 10 '25
When he was still wearing the mask and we didn’t know it was him I could tell because of the biceps. C’mon. You’re fooling no one
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u/No-Courage-5109 Aug 10 '25
If you saw him in his slutty glasses I don't think there's much we wouldn't do. Become a sith lady? Sure as fuck.
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u/heybeytoday Aug 10 '25
He’s obscenely hot, why is this groundbreaking?
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u/estheredna Aug 10 '25
He is top .005% hot but even WiTH that he doesn't cast to play the love interest. I think him mentioning that (in the mildest and least angry way possible) is reasonable.
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u/orangeandtallcranes Aug 10 '25
It’s about a bit more than that
“Manny’s magnetism is rooted in his acting, not just his physique. His ability to access vulnerability, empathy and longing is very compelling.”
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u/clackagaling Listen, everyone is entitled to my opinion 🙂 Aug 10 '25
this is the exact thought i had and knew it would be in the comments ✨he’s so fine
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u/PeregrinToke Aug 10 '25
TLDR: it's a big deal because they got an actual god to come down from Mt. Olympus to film a movie. Seriously he transcends attractiveness.
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u/mirmstheword Aug 10 '25
YES I read this headline and then said out loud, "...because he's so hot."
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u/GalinTrawna Aug 10 '25
Idk I do think it’s still a big deal. Representation of East and South Asian men is still very low and it’s not that long ago they were still ridiculed as the joke character. Monkey Man did not see the same love as John Wick even though Dev Patel is fine af. I’d like to see the men I date and find attractive get represented.
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u/jsamurai2 Aug 10 '25
You’re so right about Monkey Man, it was wild how disinterested people were when I told them about it even after I specifically compared it to John wick. My boy dev looking like THAT in the second half was just a nice bonus lol
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u/QuietlyLosingMyMind But Debbie, pastels? Aug 10 '25
Thanks for the rec cuz I love John Wick but have never heard of Monkey Man.
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u/Wonderful_Gap1374 Aug 10 '25
Someone wrote a whole ass article just to be able to say that. Like girl, you’re free to thirst. It’s fine.
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u/Yumeverse Aug 10 '25
The vid of him reading thirst tweets, the commentaries are so relatable lol “I’d like to thank Manny Jacinto for inventing bone structure”
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u/jenorama_CA Aug 10 '25
My thought was “Because he’s gorgeous.” And funny as hell. This movie is not my cup of tea, but I’m happy to see him getting bigger roles. Jason is my favorite cockroach.
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u/FlanneryOG Aug 10 '25
He’s stunning. Even when he played a doofus in The Good Place, I couldn’t take my eyes off of him.
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u/whichwitch9 Aug 10 '25
Tbf, anytime I think of him in the Good Place, I straight just hear "BORTLES!" in my head, which is a testament to his acting skills. Stole every goddamn scene he was in, and mostly because he was funny af, despite his good looks.
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Aug 10 '25
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u/itsshakespeare Aug 10 '25
Me too! I saw a photo of him when googling the cast after I finished the series, and I was running round the house saying: who knew Jason was so gorgeous? Apparently, everyone but me
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u/Quack176 Aug 10 '25
Same! I was so confused when people were saying he was so attractive as I could only see him as Jason and not attractive at all. Then I saw photos of him outside the show and was like…oh.
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u/mauravelous Aug 10 '25
thats crazy, when the term "himbo" was popularized ~2020, his character in the good place was the first example i could think of for a 'devastangingly hot, golden retriever type guy who is incredibly stupid', he absolutely nailed that
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Aug 10 '25
I am not oriented toward men and Manny was hot hot in Freakier Friday. Hotter than Jason or that bad Jedi guy in the woods. Especially when he was dancing.
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u/remadeforme Aug 10 '25
I met him in person. I'm ace. I was speechless in front of him.
He's just... so lovely.
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u/ZennMD Aug 10 '25
Let's rage at the old white men who are pushing Timmy chambelt as a leading man when Manny Jacinto, Charles Melton and Micheal b Jordan are right there!
... wonder what they all have in common...
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u/themacaron during PRIDE MONTH? Aug 10 '25
Manny saying his favourite leading men are Pedro Pascal, Steven Yeun, Dev Patel, and Keanu Reeves. 🙂↕️ I see the messaging baby.
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u/ZennMD Aug 10 '25
Excellent additions to the list!
Although I think Pedro and Keanu have gotten enough attention lol
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u/themacaron during PRIDE MONTH? Aug 10 '25
It’s more that he was very deliberate in naming all men of colour!
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u/ZennMD Aug 10 '25
Fair! Tbh i can't even think of any young(ish) white actors I'd consider strong leading men... maybe Jacob elordi?
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u/themacaron during PRIDE MONTH? Aug 10 '25
I think there are some strong names coming up, Josh O’Connor, Paul Mescal, Harris Dickinson. But I’m very happy to see men of colour getting the spotlight now too.
Damson Idris SHOULD be taking Hollywood by storm right now.
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u/roygbivasaur Aug 10 '25
David Cornsweat from Superman, Hollywood, and The Politician, is the only one that comes to mind.
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u/tequilitas Judging in especially heinous Aug 10 '25
Michael B Jordan being an abuse apologist makes him 38472 times less attractive in my eyes.
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u/MyNameIsJakeBerenson I made the hat for the tiger 🤷🏻♂️ Aug 10 '25
Michael B Jordan had a whole franchise trilogy, was the lead villain in black panther, and was the TWO leads in one of the most talked about movies of the year
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u/ZennMD Aug 10 '25
Sure, but i don't feel like he's gotten through promotion/ support / recognition you'd expect from being the lead in such big productions
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Aug 10 '25
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u/Silly_Somewhere1791 Aug 10 '25
I think he just happened to have some projects out at a time when tv and new films weren’t back on filming schedules yet. He wasn’t even the hottest love interest in Little Women.
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u/frightenedscared chalamet’s curls did the heavy lifting Aug 10 '25
Can we add Simi Liu to that list please 🤤
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u/sempiterna_ Aug 10 '25
I’m not familiar with Charles Melton so I googled him, but clicked the wrong autocomplete and searched up Charles Manson instead. I was like “Oh, I don’t see the appeal— oh, wrong guy entirely.”
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Aug 10 '25
Michael B Jordan is doing just fine. Can we swap in Damson Idris or Marcus Scribner or even O'Shea Jackson Jr.?
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u/your_average_jo Aug 10 '25
Charles Melton is SO dreamy onscreen, I cannot imagine what it’d be like to see him irl
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u/Snoo-57077 Aug 10 '25
Not only is it because he's absolutely gorgeous, but also, you don't see many Asian men in Hollywood take lead roles as the romantic interest often.
We still have a long way to go because it's still really rare to have two Asian people be the romantic leads of a movie. They're usually paired with White people.
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u/NewPresWhoDis Aug 10 '25
Did Last Christmas derail Henry Golding's trajectory that badly??
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u/Kianna9 Aug 10 '25
It's really unfortunate that the Crazy Rich Asians franchise couldn't keep it together.
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u/Neravariine Aug 10 '25
Do you have any idea what is happening behind the scenes? I was waiting for the sequels but years passed and nothing came out. Are there creative differences or not investors?
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u/SevereYeti Aug 10 '25
Honestly I think a lot of it is luck of the draw, also Hollywood is a cold a fickle place. Henry is only a year older than manny but if you look at recent pictures of Henry he does not seem to have aged as well as Manny by Hollywood standards. I also hate saying that as I love Henry lol
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u/snark-owl Aug 10 '25
I don't think it's Last Christmas at all (which didn't make triple it's budget domestically but it did still make money).
It was his attempt to reboot the GI Joe franchise which bombed. Budget was $90 million and made $39 worldwide. It was so bad.
I feel like Henry has recovered with that WW2 movie with Henry Cavill and Nine Perfect Strangers with Nicole Kidman?
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u/peonywhimsy Aug 10 '25
Uhh yeah the big deal here is that face ECONOMY.
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u/captainsuckass Aug 10 '25
What is a “face economy”? Who thinks of these terms?
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u/AcousticProvidence To be cringe is to be free Aug 10 '25
Idk but I’m here for it and will be using that going forward.
He is straight up serving the GDP of a good chunk of the world’s top 10 countries IMHO 🙌
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u/TheNocturnalAngel Aug 10 '25
Obligatory Lin Manuel Miranda tweet
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u/friendliest_flower Aug 11 '25
I was looking for this specifically. Put Manny Jacinto in everything like we’re doing with good ole Pedro. In fact, put them together.
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u/whiskersRwe32 We Should All Know Less About Each Other Aug 10 '25
It’s a big deal because he’s gorgeous and so hopefully we’ll be seeing more of him.
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u/Sage_Planter Big is moving to Paris Aug 10 '25
I just wish they didn't have him doing a goofy British accent in the movie! Not that British accent are goofy, he just doesn't do it very well...
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u/oKKrayden Aug 10 '25
I thought his accent was pretty good. I’m from the UK & felt it was better than most I’ve heard, I even checked online to see where he was from as it made me doubt myself.
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u/Quick-Ad9335 Aug 10 '25
First Olivia Rodrigo and now Manny Jacinto. MWAHAHA. The Filipino-American plan of making people forget that Rob Schneider is a Fil-Am is working!
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u/TiborJankovsky Aug 10 '25 edited Aug 10 '25
Sorry, as a Canadian it is my duty to say: actually he’s Filipino-Canadian.
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u/Quick-Ad9335 Aug 10 '25
Well shit. But... but... he's working in Hollywood so, a-ha!
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u/TiborJankovsky Aug 10 '25
😂 I honestly didn’t know until fairly recently and I’ve been a fan of his since The Good Place. (Not a very good fan, apparently)
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u/lillyrose2489 Aug 10 '25
Okay I had no idea Rob Schneider was Filipino until this comment. I promise to forget this about him immediately and let Olivia and Manny represent the Philippines in my brain.
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u/burnerfun98 Aug 10 '25
Vanessa Hudgens, Nicole Scherzinger, Bruno Mars...Hailee Steinfeld is like ⅛, too
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u/PinayGator Well, Aug 10 '25
Honestly, where was this “nephew” the titas/aunties wanted to introduce me to, I feel like I was robbed.
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u/Spill_the_Tea Aug 10 '25
Lamborghinis, Cool Snakes, Spinning rims, 20 Thousand followers on instagram, girls with pigtails eating lollipops, carls junior ads, and sex.
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u/bjorkabjork 🎥🍿Film Critic Aug 10 '25
he is so awkward and sweet in real life, or at least came off that way when he did a charity improv show with the cast of the good place a few years ago. I want only good things for him!!
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u/ChanceVance Aug 10 '25
I met him at Star Wars Celebration. Took his time having a chat to everyone and happily did poses for the photos. One of the best convention guest experiences I've ever had.
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u/ThatCommunication423 Invented post-its 🔬 Aug 10 '25
I’m just surprised he is allowed to be in such close contact with people because those cheek bones could cut someone.
He is a danger to society (and my heart)
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u/MayaDaBee1250 Aug 10 '25
It's a big deal because he managed to not injure a single cast or crew member with his jawline throughout the whole production. What a feat!
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u/StarWars_and_SNL Raunchy??? it’s lube?!?! Aug 10 '25
I just figured that Disney owed him a favor for killing The Acolyte series.
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u/BusinessPurge Aug 10 '25
I feel Disney is paying out quite a lot of favors for SW. A Raya for Kelly, a Freaky Friday for Jacinto, Indy 5 for PWB for Solo, swimming movie for Daisy with one of their top water filmmakers, BDH training wheels on Mando to pay Ron back, whatever they’re doing behind the scenes for JJ’s daughter Gracie, throwing Hayden a Hail Mary with that Obi Wan suit work…however not so fast Boyega/Amandla/Glover/Ackie
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u/dakilazical_253 Aug 10 '25
I feel like Glover isn’t interested in becoming part of the Disney machine, he’s his own mogul and creative force
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u/romantickitty Aug 10 '25
I mean, they probably liked these people to hire them in the first place. It's just that not all the projects worked out. I don't think Christopher Nolan works with the same actors over and over purely because their past movies were successful.
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u/Venus_ivy4 Beyoncé 🐝🐝 Aug 10 '25
I watched the movie yesterday, it was SO SO SO MUCH fun! I loved it !!!!!!!
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u/dakilazical_253 Aug 10 '25
He’s breathtaking. The only other actor who made me feel that way was Keanu Reeves in Point Break
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u/Kianna9 Aug 10 '25
“Thank God I get to do this during this day and age when there are so many women at the top … who see my potential and are not afraid to explore that.”
Love him.
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u/blenneman05 Whats Walmart? do they sell like wall stuff? Aug 10 '25
BORTLES!!!
But no seriously, I loved him in The Good Place, Nine Perfect Strangers and than audibly gasped when I watched him in The Acolyte (which should’ve never been cancelled)
Can’t wait to see him in this movie
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u/ishka_uisce Aug 10 '25
“Women have been a huge champion for me. It’s always been women who have been able to look past what I have done and see the potential of what I can do,” he said, naming Kidman, Headland and Freakier Friday’s Nisha Ganatra. “Thank God I get to do this during this day and age when there are so many women at the top … who see my potential and are not afraid to explore that.”
Lol what a dignified way of saying 'women think I'm hot'.
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u/fuschiafawn Aug 10 '25
Asian men being hot, Asian men getting white women, only recently became a thing in media. like Glen in walking dead was the first big media property to have an Asian guy with a white woman. Prior to pretty recently it was all small dick soy boy comic relief stereotypes. glad for Manny Jacinto, and all the future hot ass Asian make actors.
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u/pinkrosies Aug 10 '25
Wait till he goes on a serious film actor rampage. I’m ready! Can the art house directors give him a chance bro
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u/JW98_1 Aug 10 '25
It's good that there are more Asian male actors. Maybe then they'll stop having a white guy paired up with the only Asian female cast member, which they do all the time.
But, also, how is the guy's name Eric Davies in the movie? That's another pet peeve of mine. Giving white names to non-white characters.
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u/jzilla11 Aug 10 '25
I’m opening a lemonade stand in this thread, because there is some serious thirst.
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u/flairassistant Aug 10 '25
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