Manny Jacinto on 'tough' Hollywood journey: 'There's a lot of rejection'

Manny Jacinto may be capturing everyone's hearts now, but the Filipino-Canadian "Freakier Friday" star shared that his journey in Hollywood was paved with a lot of rejection. 

Manny guested on "Fast Talk with Boy Abunda" Friday where he candidly talked about the challenges he encountered in the entertainment industry. 

"It's a pretty tough industry, you know, especially as a person of color, whether you're Asian or a Filipino in general. It can get pretty tough, but there's a lot of rejection in auditions, in casting choices, in projects. You just have to keep on going," he said. 

"I think I built a lot of work ethic from my parents because of their work ethic and I just, you know, continue to strive on." 

Manny's most recent role is Eric Davies in "Freakier Friday," a charming chef and single dad engaged to Anna, played by Hollywood actress Lindsay Lohan.  

Before this, he also starred in "Star Wars: The Acolyte," "Top Gun: Maverick" alongside Tom Cruise, "Nine Perfect Strangers" with Nicole Kidman and Dolly De Leon, and "The Good Place," among others. 

But Manny admitted that he did not always want to be an actor, adding that his family were mainly in the education sector. 

"I was really the first one kinda in the arts, so I had a lot of weird looks from, you know, some titos and titas and my lolos and lolas, but they were always very supportive and they let me be free and explore dance and the arts," he said. 

Per Manny, he did not go into acting full-on until after he obtained his engineering degree. He started taking acting classes and auditioned for anything and everything, from plays to films and TV shows. 

As to where he gets his courage to keep going, he shared, "Well, my mom would always say, 'Ang tigas ng ulo naman ng batang 'to' and I think it's just the stubbornness. I think it's a part of that, but it's also, again, work ethic and also the support from my parents." 

During his interview, Manny also told Tito Boy that he would like to work with Lea Salonga if given the opportunity and that he has plans to do a film in the Philippines. 

"Yeah, I think the actual goal is I'm trying to write and create stories that could hopefully be filmed in the Philippines as well, both whether to act here or to create stories to act here," he said.

Manny is currently in the country for the Philippine premiere of "Freakier Friday," which is now showing in cinemas.