Manuel Luis Jacinto is a Filipino-Canadian actor. He stars on the NBC comedy The Good Place as Jason Mendoza.
Jacinto was born in Manila, Philippines, but his family emigrated to Canada when he was about three years old. He was raised in Richmond, British Columbia. Jacinto grew up playing basketball and attended an all-boys high school.
He studied and received a Bachelor's degree in Applied Science in civil engineering at the University of British Columbia. While interning, he participated in hip hop dance competitions before eventually transitioning into acting as a career.
He's had small roles in shows like Once Upon a Time, Supernatural and iZombie.
In 2015, he was cast as triad leader Wing Lei in the Canadian spy drama The Romeo Section by Chris Haddock. The role won him a Leo Award nomination for Best Supporting Performance in a Dramatic Series.
In 2016, Jacinto was cast as Jianyu Li / Jason Mendoza in the NBC comedy The Good Place. Jacinto has received considerable praise for his performance. Due to his character's professed love of the Jacksonville Jaguars, Jacinto attended the team's wild card playoff game against the Buffalo Bills.The Jaguars won the game, 10–3.
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