Kumail Nanjiani made a name for himself in Hollywood thanks to comedy, but after gaining some experience in the superhero film genre withEternals, theWelcome to Chippendalesstar now wants to tackle villains too.
Nanjiani became famous for his role in HBO’s Silicon ValleyandThe Big Sick, which is why his physical transformation for Marvel Studios’Eternalsshocked many. Still, he wants to continue expanding his range. For that to happen, Nanjiani urged Hollywood to rethink its current stance on diversity, calling studio policies “weird,” as he believes it closes the door to people like him playing bad guys.
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During an interview withEsquire, Nanjiani discussed this and many other topics. Nanjiani called out Hollywood’s good intentions because he’s been told that, despite wanting to play more antagonist roles, “that’s going to be hard because people don’t want to cast non-white people as bad guys.” Simply put, the actor believes that way of thinking can be “just as limiting as anything else,” citing fellowMCU actor Sebastian Stanas someone who gets to play a hero “and then he’ll play a psychopath” inFresh.
Nanjiani was cast in the Hulu seriesWelcome to Chippendalesto play disgraced strip club founder Somen Banerjee, a villainous figure, and one that the actor believes, if the show wasn’t based on a true story, would have probably been cast as a white person. During the same interview, Nanjiani also expressed nostalgia for “grown-up movies that have a decent budget, decent movie stars in the theatres,” as opposed to streaming. He pondered that ifThe Big SickorGreta Gerwig’s acclaimedLady Birdhad been released in 2020, those films would have been released directly to streaming services.
As a star with MCU credits to his name, Nanjiani also chimed in on the recentdiscussion about the artistic merits of Marvel films, which have been questioned by the likes of Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino, expressing both his love for their works and disagreement with their opinions. Nevertheless, the actor does admit that if Scorsese and Tarantino have not “earned the right to have an opinion on movies, then none of us should have an opinion on movies.” Funnily enough, Nanjiani’s first superhero role inEternalscame in Marvel Studios' first movie under an auteur director like Chloe Zhao.
Recently, Nanjiani has been asked aboutthe possibility ofEternals 2happening. While he’s admitted he hasn’t received any calls, the actor is more than open to returning as Kingo. After all,Eternalswas one of the worst-received MCU films in Phase Four, so it’s currently a mystery whether Marvel Studios will decide to make a sequel part of its developing pipeline.
Eternalsis available on Disney Plus.
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