Kumail Nanjiani Turns Bollywood Star in Marvel’s ‘The Eternals’

The film releases on 6 November.

Silicon Valley star Kumail Nanjiani will be seen in Marvel Studios’ The Eternals, an upcoming superhero film that’s part of Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film, which also stars Kit Harrington, Richard Madden and Angelina Jolie, is based on the comic book series about a group of immortal aliens who have been living hidden amongst humanity until they have to reunite to save the Earth.

In a recent interview on the New Hollywood podcast, Kumail shed light on his character saying he will play a Bollywood star. “My character, for instance, is like ‘Ok we’re supposed to keep a low profile, no one should know.’ So I become a Bollywood movie star, that’s my secret identity. We’re supposed to keep quiet and I’ve become the biggest Bollywood movie star,” he said. He added that he took “months of Bollywood dance classes” to prepare for the role. “It’s really a workout… and you know, there’s like 52 dancers, and 51 of them are professional dancers, and there’s me!”

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I never thought I’d be one of those people who would post a thirsty shirtless, but I’ve worked way too hard for way too long so here we are. You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain. I found out a year ago I was going to be in Marvel’s Eternals and decided I wanted to transform how I looked. I would not have been able to do this if I didn’t have a full year with the best trainers and nutritionists paid for by the biggest studio in the world. I’m glad I look like this, but I also understand why I never did before. It would have been impossible without these resources and time. So big thanks to @grantrobertsfit who started working with me at the beginning of the year and made me understand true physical pain for months and months. Then, once we started shooting, a massive thanks to @davidhigginslondon and his team (@ellispartridge, @thebeardypt, @tomcheesemanfitness) for training me almost every day and making me strong, limber and injury free. I can almost touch my toes now. (And thank you for forcing me to do cheat meals David.) Matthews Street Catering for their delicious and healthy meals. And finally, the biggest thanks goes to @emilyvgordon for putting up with me complaining and talking about only working out and dieting for the last year. I promise I’ll be interesting again some day. #thirstyshirtless (Photo by @markupson.) (edit: I left off one very important person: @lancecallahan who trained me for 6 years and helped me build the foundation I could use to do this. Thank you!)

A post shared by @ kumailn on Dec 16, 2019 at 8:10am PST

In December last year, Nanjiani stunned fans with an Instagram photo of his newly ripped physique. “I never thought I’d be one of those people who would post a thirsty shirtless, but I’ve worked way too hard for way too long so here we are,” he wrote. He went on to add a disclaimer that his transformation from dad bod to six-pack wouldn’t have been possible had he not had “a full year with the best trainers and nutritionists paid for by the biggest studios in the world.” “I’m glad I look like this, but I also understand why I never did before. It would have been impossible without these resources and time,” he wrote.

The Eternals has been directed by Chloe Zhao and releases on 6 November.