When Manny Jacinto first appears on The Good Place, he says nothing. He’s Jianyu, a Buddhist monk who “obeys a strict code of silence,” which is run of the mill for Asian representation on TV: a token of a character, one that says and does very little. But because this is The Good Place—the trickiest, high-concept-iest sitcom broadcast TV has seen since The Office (naturally, made by the same dude, Michael Schur)—nothing about the show is as it seems. Manny Jacinto is not Jianyu, a silent monk; he is secretly Jason Mendoza, an aspiring DJ/dancer from Jacksonville, a bona fide and hilarious dummy who uses the entirety of his brain power to shout “Blake Bortles!” at any given opportunity.

Jameela Jamil Had Never Acted Before The Good Place Jamil found herself learning from the best: Ted Danson and his fart noises.

Jacinto, it turns out, is not an idiot. He’s sweet like Jason (Jacinto repeatedly mentions how much he loves his parents), but in real life, he’s more like the logical and anxious personality of another Good Place character, Chidi. It’s why Jacinto is the most serious person on set, even if he’s the show’s least serious character. He spoke to GQ about turning the Jaguars quarterback into an Internet meme, the cast members he has—and will—kiss, his number one fan (it’s Dad), and, y’know, Asian representation in Hollywood.

GQ: Sorry about Blake Bortles.

[laughs] Blake Bortles, I mean where do I start?

You were at the Jaguars’ wild-card game a couple weeks ago. What was that like?

It was really weird, but very fun at the same time. I was talking to my parents about it—they follow what I do on social media, which is very flattering and very scary at the same time. But the game was super fun. I didn’t know whether to be Manny Jacinto...or Jason Mendoza?

Did people recognize you at the game?

Yeah, but I think it was just when I was being Jason Mendoza. I was yelling and running around. And when I was doing that, I would get recognized. People would be like, “Oh my gosh, are you on The Good Place? Can I take a picture?” And I’d be like, “Yeah, of course!” and I’d yell “Duval” and just get into it. But when I was Manny, I was just another dude enjoying the game, just incredibly happy to be there.

Are you a football person?

No, actually! I know how to play the game. But the thing is I’m from Canada, I’m from Vancouver. It’s all about hockey over there, and I grew up playing basketball. But I can appreciate the athleticism of the sport. It’s a huge, huge part of American culture. Being down there, it’s like, Oh, I get it now.

On the show, you play the stereotype of someone from Jacksonville. Do people from Jacksonville ever get mad at that impression?

Nobody ever really gets mad. If anything, I get comments like, “Are you really from Jacksonville? Because I know people just like you.”

There’s this joke going around on Twitter right now that everyone’s personality is actually a combination of two Good Place characters. Which two do you think you are?

In real life?

Yeah.

I would say I’m a mix between Jason and Chidi. Obviously, the Jason-ness comes naturally. But the Chidi-ness is the anxiety. Like, there are definitely times when I can just get too into my head.

How would you describe the vibe on set?

They’re all jerks. I hate working with them. They’re the worst.

No, I lucked out. I am so grateful for this group of people because it is literally like a family. And I know people say that all the time, and it’s not true sometimes, but I think the biggest reason why this show touches people—for one thing, is the writing—but also we have such a good energy. That good energy translates through the screen, that chemistry. And we were just complete strangers. We had no idea who each other were, and just right off the bat—especially the four of us—we were just these kids who were like, What the heck is going on? Ted Danson is asking us about our day?