Tom Cruise Gets Shaded By Handsome Actor Manny Jacinto After All His Lines Were Cut In Top: Gun Maverick

Manny Jacinto appears to have thrown shade at Tom Cruise after revealing that all of his lines were cut from 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick.

The handsome 36-year-old actor has been cast as Lt. Billy “Fritz” Avalone in the hit Top Gun sequel, which also stars Glen Powell and Miles Teller.

Although the film helped Powell and Tiller achieve A-list status, it did little to raise Jacinto’s profile, as he was reduced to a background player in post-production.

He only discovered how little he appeared in the film when it hit theaters in May 2022.

But Jacinto told GQ this week that he wasn’t “shocked” by the decision at all since “Tom Cruise writes stories for Tom Cruise.”

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“It’s flattering that there was a bit of an uproar (over my cut), but it didn’t shock me,” he said.

“There was this sense of the direction the movie was going (on set), like I could see them focusing the camera more on these (other) guys and not taking up as much time on our scenes.”

Despite months of flight training for the role, Jacinto only appears in the background of a few scenes and his lines were completely dropped.

But he is not bitter about the experience and, on the contrary, has used it as “fuel.”

“It gives you energy, because at the end of the day, Tom Cruise is writing stories for Tom Cruise,” he said.

“It’s up to us as Asian Americans and people of color to do it. We can’t wait for someone else to do it. If we want bigger stories to be told, we have to create them ourselves.”

Jacinto expressed his gratitude for being a part of the Top Gun franchise.

“Luckily, it was still a great experience: you get to see this huge machine at work, see how Tom Cruise works, and you get to be an integral part of this huge franchise,” he explained.

Top Gun: Maverick grossed nearly $1.5 billion at the worldwide box office on a budget of $170 million.

Set more than three decades after the classic 1986 film, Top Gun: Maverick sees Cruise return as fighter pilot Pete “Maverick” Mitchell.

“Thirty years later, Maverick continues to push the boundaries as a top naval aviator, but must confront the ghosts of his past as he leads the elite graduates of TOP GUN on a mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice from those chosen to fly it,” reads the official IMDb synopsis.

Filming took place in California, Washington, and Maryland between 2018 and 2019.

The film’s planned 2019 release was delayed after the COVID-19 lockdown thwarted reshoot plans.

Top Gun: Maverick — which sees the return of Val Kilmer with the addition of Jennifer Connelly and Jon Hamm — officially premiered on May 27, 2022.

It earned five Academy Award nominations and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Motion Picture – Drama.

While the Top Gun sequel wasn’t the career catalyst he hoped for, Jacinto found incredible success with another beloved franchise.

He currently plays Qimir, a seductive Sith Lord, in the acclaimed Star Wars spin-off The Acolyte on Disney+.

Also starring Amandla Stenberg, Carrie-Anne Moss and Squid Game actor Lee Jung-jae, the action drama series premiered its first season on June 4.

“An investigation into a series of shocking crimes pits a respected Jedi Master (Lee Jung-Jae) against a dangerous warrior from his past (Stenberg),” reads the official synopsis.

“As new clues emerge, they embark on a dark path where sinister forces reveal that all is not as it seems.”

The action takes place approximately 100 years before the events of the first Star Wars prequel film, The Phantom Menace, released in 1999.

The series gives fans a glimpse into the end of what has become the High Republic era in Star Wars lore.

It was created by longtime Star Wars fan Lesyle Headland, best known for creating the Netflix series Russian Doll.

In a recent interview with the New York Times, Jacinto spoke about his role as an “outsider” in The Acolyte and how he deals with being a minority in Hollywood.

“I always felt like an outsider, like I was in a place that didn’t accept you. I think that’s why it really resonated with Leslye and me,” he explained.

“Leslye being a female, gay showrunner in this industry and me being an Asian-American man in this industry, we constantly had to fight for our position and we constantly had to prove ourselves.

“So I think it’s really a parallel with that kind of feeling of wanting to be accepted and wanting to be able to really express yourself.”

The first season of The Acolyte ended on July 16 after eight episodes.

Disney has not yet announced whether the series will be renewed for a second season.