Photographed by Borgy Angeles
Two years since his last visit home, Manny Jacinto returns to Manila with stories to share and new ones to create. Over dinner with Vogue Philippines, the actor talks about finding stillness and why representation has to start with something original.
Under the soft rain and the buzz of Manila traffic, Manny Jacinto arrives at M Dining in Chino Roces for an intimate dinner hosted by the Vogue Philippines team. Just hours before, he had wrapped a packed day of press for Freakier Friday, meeting Erwan Heussaff for a meal (having a version of sinigang that was red and felt like a mix between that and kaldereta), catching up with Dolly de Leon, and braving a fan meet where crowds held out copies of his October 2024 Vogue Man Philippines cover for him to sign.
“I was ready to pay people to show up,” he jokes, unsure if the local audience would still remember him. But it’s been two years since his last visit, where the actor traveled through a beach-dotted itinerary across Palawan and Cebu. He was swimming with whale sharks, visiting family up north, and it had been twelve years since the trip before that; only now is he home again. The welcome, he found, is louder than expected.
The dinner, led by Vogue Man editor Danyl Geneciran and Vogue Philippines’ publisher Archie Carrasco, brought together rising actors River Joseph, Ralph de Leon, and Michael Sager, and partners Jeanger Navarro, Andee Que, Tarrah Austria, Bianca Cruz, and Dennis Perez. It was one of the few pockets of stillness Jacinto had in an otherwise nonstop schedule. “This is it. This is kind of the only rest I have,” he admits. “And then my flight is in the morning. And then when you get there, it’s work, work, work.” But between plates of local cuisine, the conversations turned candid.
“I was born here,” Manny shares, “but I was only a kid when I moved, so my whole life was mixed up.” And as he tells guests more about his memories growing up, it’s clear that his roots continue to run deep. “I do miss the quiet, and we used to live up north. [I miss] being with family, [and] it’s crazy every time I come back because everyone has changed and grown.”
Though he hasn’t had time to go around this trip, pieces of the country still found their way into his latest role as Eric in Freakier Friday. A remake of the original body-swap comedy, he plays a character loosely reminiscent of Chad Michael Murray’s from the 2003 version. “It’s a lot of me going around and chatting,” he says. The film slips in nods to Manny’s heritage, such as the gesture mano as a sign of respect, and a handful of references to Filipino culture woven throughout. His current role may be fun, but when asked about his favorite performances, he pauses. “Star Wars was probably the most fun to me, and I think The Good Place was super fun too, but Freakier Friday might be the most popular among the movies I’ve done so far, especially in terms of reception and all that.”
And while he’s aware of the buzz, the TikTok fan edits, the viral Vogue Man Philippines cover that he’s been told broke the internet, the actor is hoping to carry that momentum toward projects that push the boundaries of Asian representation, a theme he talked about at length when he last spoke to Vogue Philippines. It’s an advocacy he’s embraced: to help tell stories that go beyond the usual tropes, and reflect the nuance and humor of the communities he comes from.
“Right now, I’m trying to produce a couple stories that I want to tell.” He references projects like Everything Everywhere All At Once, Beef, and Past Lives as examples of what Asian stories can look like when told “originally.” “Especially when you’re a person of color, and as Asians, I think you get the most impact when it’s an original. And as much as I love Freakier Friday, it’s Jamie Lee Curtis’ story,” he says. “We need something to move our culture forward.”
By GABRIEL YAP. Photographs by BORGY ANGELES. Vogue Man Editor: Danyl Geneciran. Producer: Julian Rodriguez. Digital Associate Editor: Chelsea Sarabia.
