Last month, the arrival of a new agent from the dark side rocked the galaxy far, far away. acolyte The mystery of the stranger is revealed – Manny Jacinto’s not-so-shady smuggler Chimere is actually the dark master pulling the strings of his titular followers. But now since Star Wars The streaming series has wrapped up its debut season (and has a few surprises for us while we wait for a second season to be announced), and The Strangers is still as strange to us as ever. So to learn more about his plans, how the finale’s big revelations about the Jedi and Sith affect those plans, and how he feels about joining the Sith’s long-term legacy, io9 spoke with the man himself.
James Whitbrook (io9): Now that the finale is out, how does it feel for you as an actor to have to keep the secret of the character you’re really playing and then put it out there and see how everyone reacts? Star Wars What have fans been loving?
Manny Jacinto: Yes, a lot of weight has been lifted off my shoulders. For one thing – I’m not going to lie to you, James. Honestly, it hurts my soul every time I have to lie to people’s faces when they ask these thoughtful questions. It’s definitely a huge relief to finally be able to talk about this character in full form and with a complete arc. But I’m also incredibly proud of it, and I honestly can’t wait to share any little tidbits people have about Stranger Things right now.
io9: There’s a moment early in the finale when the Stranger and Osha leave his ship where we see this peculiar character in the shadows. We now know this is Plagueis – how aware were you of this reveal while filming? Were you told how he was brought into the show and his relationships with strangers?
Jacinto: I had no idea this was going to be a reveal. Like, when I saw this episode – because I saw all the episodes for the first time a few months ago, you know, before there was built-in CGI or anything like that – when that scene came up, it Yes…I don’t know if this is the case. Regardless of whether it is a green screen or not, it is always a black screen, so I have actually experienced it. [for the first time] As a viewer, I had no idea what to expect. I need to talk to Leslie [Headland, The Acolyte‘s showrunner] But I was lucky enough to be able to experience that moment and be as shocked as the audience was. There’s a lot to unpack there.
io9: How do you think The Stranger feels about being in the world with him, especially now, at the end of the finale, that he has a new assistant to train?
Jacinto: I can’t think about the past [the finale], the consequences of having another person there. I always approach strangers with a lone wolf personality, like this is just what he wants… you know, he talks about the power of two people, so he talks about his ambitions, but I do it for strangers The way to prepare, or Chimir, or whatever you want to call him, is to be in this lonely space. I knew this was going to change things and I needed to talk to Leslie about how we were going to move forward because…yeah, I was almost blindsided by this reveal, in a really good way.
io9: After that moment, we go to Brundock and we have this incredible fight scene with Master Thrall. How did your preparation for this duel compare to your process and experience filming the big battle scene in Episode 5?
Jacinto: I mean, I think the best part is, the sequence was shot after episode five, and I had now built a body that coordinated with the choreography, and I was more familiar with how to use a lightsaber, more fluidly Use lightsaber. I’ve had a lot of practice with this.
I think one thing that changed is that we were very…very intense, so a lot of the choreography at the time I had to learn the day before or the day before. We didn’t have enough time to prepare the scenes – the actors’ strike was coming and we didn’t know how long we would be shooting for, so I had to move fast. That was the biggest change, I just had to pick up the choreography faster, make adjustments and become more fluid on the day. And, you know, I think I could also rely more on the stunt people – I didn’t have to do big wire work and stuff, they could do that and I didn’t have to worry about that, even though I wanted to. It’s like the kid in me goes “Let me do it!” That’s the most important thing: to be more open to changes in the day because we don’t have as much time to prepare.
io9: After that duel, the Jedi, led by Venestra, arrived at the scene—and in that moment, both she and the stranger became aware of each other’s presence. Again, how much of the connection between him and her was realized while filming, and how did it feel for you to play that moment of discovery for The Stranger as he watches her from the shadows?
Jacinto: Again, I don’t actually know [coming in]. I think Leslie did it so that it wouldn’t affect our show, but I don’t think I knew the connection until we started filming episode eight. I read [the script] I found this connection and I could understand what Leslie was thinking. Luckily, I had some time to digest and figure out what the relationship was.
I think that does reflect Osha’s relationship with Saul, at least from my conversations with Leslie. Maybe there would have been a different outcome, so if we had a season 2, I think it’s definitely something we could explore and that I’d personally love to explore – like Osha and Thor’s father-daughter relationship, I think It could be that there is a mother-son relationship between the two.
io9: Speaking of Osha – the finale ended with a role reversal, with the Stranger letting May go and gaining Osha as a new apprentice. How do you think his relationship with Osha differs from his relationship with Mae? How does it feel for you to make that difference as we move toward the final moments?
Jacinto: God, there are so many things we can do about this relationship. Two things: I needed to make sure to differentiate between May and Osha’s relationship. So May’s relationship was always like a sibling, always a sibling rivalry – “We don’t really like each other, but we need each other to appease this master.” For Osha, it was always more… Definitely an intimate attraction and relationship.
I remember talking to Amandla [Stenberg, who plays Mae and Osha] And Leslie about when that transformation did happen, when did he really realize that oh, he had Incorrect twin. I keep thinking about this and I do think this is the moment [in episode two] He walked up to Osha when she was trying to pretend to be Mae, and he said, “You look just like her.” I think he felt, he couldn’t help but feel, the depth of her trauma and despair, This could probably be used for something greater, to lure her to the dark side. I think at that moment he said “This is not like this, this is Mei” should become. I think from that moment on, in the stranger’s mind, he always thought Osha might be this one.
io9: I’m glad you mentioned the intimacy there. In episodes six and eight, Osha and the stranger have an eerie connection – some fans latched on to it and dubbed the two of you “Oshamir.” How do you feel about fans not only seeing this as a potential idea, but do you think this is something we could see as they explore the master-student relationship?
Jacinto: Uh-huh! I think this is definitely an important point to explore if we do get a season 2. I think an important part of this dynamic is that it brings in a different kind of audience Star Wars, you know. I think there’s a huge one right now Star Wars fan base, but I think from what people have texted me, they’re noticing people and comments like, “I haven’t seen anyone yet.” Star Warsbut I will do it for this,” and, you know, that’s a reference to Oshamir’s dynamic. I think it would be such a great thing to be able to bring more people into this series, into this fan base. You have to give people what they want, and I think there’s a lot to explore in that dynamic. Yeah, that’s really cool.
io9: The Stranger is now part of the long legacy of Sith characters Star Wars. Looking back on the series, what do you think makes the Stranger unique among these characters and makes people look at him and feel like, “Oh, we’ve never seen this in a Sith before”?
Jacinto: I’ve talked about this before with Leslie and some of our producers, that someone is a “bad guy” – and I say that in quotes – or a “villain,” but he is who he is. For other Sith Lords, or if you look at Anakin, or if you look at Kylo Ren, they’ve obviously gone through this trauma, they’re struggling with something internally, and you can definitely see that There is a glimmer of light deep inside. To a stranger, it’s almost like…he’s just unapologetic. He’s not sorry for who he is. He understood that to the Jedi, he was an outsider, not allowed to exist in society because of his beliefs and passions.
I think that’s what separates him from previous Sith, villains or “big bads” Star Wars. He’s unapologetic about who he is, he’s like “accept me for who I am, I don’t want yes It’s already someone else. He was a Jedi in his previous life, but – who knows what happened in that transition – but if anything, he was happy, and he had no qualms about it. He has accepted it. he said to sol [in episode five]”I’ve embraced my darkness, what have you done with your darkness?” He’s an outsider, he knows he’s an outcast, he knows he’s the black sheep, and he won’t apologize for it.
acolyte Now streaming on Disney+.
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