In the ever-shifting landscape of Hollywood, two actors are charting paths that defy easy categorization—each in their own way reshaping what it means to build a career in the entertainment industry. Manny Jacinto and Alden Ehrenreich, both familiar faces to audiences but hardly household names, are making waves with new projects that highlight not just their talent but their determination to create spaces—on screen and off—that reflect their values and ambitions.
For Manny Jacinto, the journey has been a long time coming. As Slate Magazine reported on August 9, 2025, Jacinto’s status as a romantic lead in the public imagination has been cemented for years, thanks in part to the viral fervor of TikTok edits and persistent fan campaigns. Yet, the reality lagged behind the fantasy. After his breakout role as the lovable Jason Mendoza on NBC’s The Good Place, Jacinto’s film career saw more near-misses than triumphs. Despite landing a role in the blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick, none of his lines made the final cut—a disappointment for both the actor and his supporters.
That narrative may finally be shifting with the release of Freakier Friday, a sequel to the early-2000s Lindsay Lohan vehicle Freaky Friday. In this new installment, Jacinto plays Eric, a charming British-accented chef and single dad whose daughter’s science class mishap brings him together with Anna, played by Lindsay Lohan. Their romance unfolds in a brisk montage, culminating in an engagement and the looming question of whether their newly blended family will stay in Los Angeles or relocate to Eric’s native England.
While the film’s premise leans heavily on body-swap hijinks—with Lohan, Jamie Lee Curtis, and the two daughters swapping places—Jacinto’s character isn’t among the switched. Still, the movie offers him moments to shine, including a memorable dance class scene that pays homage to Patrick Swayze’s iconic routine from Dirty Dancing. As Slate notes, "he’s got moves," and it’s easy to imagine Jacinto’s loyal fanbase lobbying for his next big role—perhaps even a musical.
Yet, the road to this moment hasn’t been without obstacles. Hollywood’s reluctance to cast Jacinto in leading roles, despite his clear appeal and proven range—most recently expanded by his "bad boy" turn in the Star Wars series The Acolyte—raises uncomfortable questions about the industry’s decision-making. As the Slate article points out, the difficulty of bringing romantic comedies to the big screen, coupled with executives’ considerations of race (Jacinto is a Canadian actor of Filipino-Chinese descent), has likely played a role in delaying his ascent. The fact that Freakier Friday was directed by Nisha Ganatra, a woman of color, is not lost on observers tracking the slow but meaningful shifts in Hollywood’s approach to representation.
While Freakier Friday is more family comedy than pure rom-com, Jacinto’s performance demonstrates that he’s ready for more substantial leading man material. The hope, as Slate muses, is that this film will serve as a springboard—much as The Parent Trap did for Nancy Meyers, who parlayed her success into a storied romantic comedy career. If there’s any justice, Jacinto’s next chapter will be filled with the kinds of roles fans have been dreaming up for years.
Meanwhile, across town—or perhaps in a parallel creative universe—Alden Ehrenreich is busy building something that’s as much about community as it is about career. As detailed by The Hollywood Reporter, the actor best known for playing a young Han Solo in Solo: A Star Wars Story found himself, during the pandemic’s early days, Googling Los Angeles real estate in pursuit of a long-held dream: opening a theater. That dream materialized in the form of the Huron Substation, a historic Cypress Park building originally built for the city’s Yellow trolley cars and more recently used as an event space.
Four years ago, Ehrenreich purchased the property and launched the Huron Station Playhouse. His vision? To create an "off-Broadway space for L.A., where the best of the last few years of theater, some of these great, smaller plays that aren’t really the right fit for the Geffen or The Taper can come." Programming began last year with five play readings featuring actors like Dylan O’Brien and Stephanie Hsu. The playhouse now offers acting classes on Monday nights, a playwrights circle every other Wednesday, and plans to launch full staged productions in spring 2025. There’s even talk of adding 92nd Street Y-style conversation series and arts classes for kids and teens.
Ehrenreich’s inspiration comes from storied creative collectives like American Zoetrope and John Cassavetes’ ensembles. He’s determined to foster a space where artists can collaborate free from the "pressures of the industry and the pressures of their status that year, whatever the hell it might be," as he puts it. The goal is to keep the creative fire alive, even as Hollywood becomes increasingly corporatized and risk-averse.
That ethos extends to Ehrenreich’s own career choices. While he’s worked with a range of auteurs—from the Coen Brothers in Hail, Caesar! to Christopher Nolan in Oppenheimer—he’s never been one to chase celebrity for its own sake. "I have not gone after certain opportunities that would have been very beneficial from a career standpoint," he admits. Instead, he’s focused on roles and projects that feel authentic, even if it means taking a backseat to bigger names or genres outside his comfort zone.
His latest film, the horror-thriller Weapons directed by Zach Cregger and released this August, sees Ehrenreich playing a would-be sober cop investigating the disappearance of 17 local elementary school kids—a role that required him to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and shadow a real cop for research. Though not a fan of horror himself, Ehrenreich was drawn to the script’s unconventional structure and emotional intensity. Cregger, for his part, describes Ehrenreich as an actor who can "spin [material] into gold and never be boring," even in films that might not otherwise stand out.
Looking ahead, Ehrenreich is preparing to direct his first feature film, having already helmed the short Shadow Brother Sunday in 2023. He’s spent nearly two decades collecting insights on how to make a film set "a healthy village," and he’s eager to make his directorial debut independently, ensuring creative control over every aspect of the production.
Both Jacinto and Ehrenreich are, in their own ways, challenging the industry’s expectations—Jacinto by breaking through barriers to claim the romantic lead roles fans have long imagined for him, and Ehrenreich by building a creative haven that nurtures experimentation and community. As Ehrenreich recalls advice from Francis Ford Coppola: "You’re going to succeed and fail the same amount of times, no matter what you do. So what matters is where you’re putting your emphasis." For these two actors, the emphasis is clear: authenticity, artistry, and a willingness to forge new paths, no matter how fickle the industry may be.
As Hollywood continues to evolve, it’s the risk-takers and dreamers—those who dance their own dance, literally and figuratively—who just might redefine what success looks like for the next generation.
