Kumail Nanjiani as Somen ‘Steve’ Banerjee in Welcome to Chippendales
(Picture: HULU)For years, the only roles Kumail Nanjiani was offered were nerds. Even after the stand-up comedian-turned-actor’s indie film The Big Sick became a worldwide sensation, the parts stayed the same, though they did get bigger. “Instead of the nerdy food delivery guy, I was now the nerdy guy in a weird action story.”
Then he landed a role in Marvel blockbuster Eternals, for which he bulked up, and everything changed – though not necessarily in the way he expected. “It’s not that I got to do action stuff, but I got to play all kinds of characters. Just normal people who were married and had kids.”
