A STAR IS ... KUMAIL NANJIANI?
We know Hollywood is plagued by diversity problems these days, but today we’d like to talk about Kumail Nanjiani in particular. He’s a brown dude. Surely you’ve seen or heard Nanjiani on a TV show, animated series or one of many dumb comedies by now. He’s Pakistani, by the way, and the star of the hit HBO show Silicon Valley. He’s also had bit roles in virtually every comedy show or movie you can think of over the last few years, including Portlandia, Adventure Time, Newsreaders, Community and dozens more. And he’s done all this on top of performing stand- up comedy, hosting a Comedy Central series and leading a couple of popular podcasts. But Nanjiani is not just some hard-working comedian wrangling for bit roles, even if that’s all the industry will give him. Judd Apatow is producing his first movie, The Big Sick, which Nanjiani created with his wife Emily Gordon. Hopefully The Big Sick will take Nanjiani places, because Hollywood’s been giving him the short shrift. Yes, it’s the most competitive industry in the world. I’m sure Nanjiani himself knows it very well, coming from an immigrant family that had to make it in America. Did you know every single journalist who interviews him asks about his insane work ethic?
Since Nanjiani started landing small roles in trite comedies, he’s become a hidden gem. Take the atrocious Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, for example, in which Nanjiani plays a masseuse named “Keanu,” a silly, one- note character who plays into racist stereotypes, but whom Nanjiani thanklessly imbues with genuine humour. His all- too- slight appearances in Central Intelligence and the new comedy Fist Fight were so strong he outshone the stars. ( Incidentally, he plays a security guard in both movies, one of about four roles regularly offered to brown dudes, along with delivery guys, terrorists and taxi drivers.)
Since Hollywood claims to love immigrants so much, my question is this: Why aren’t studios giving Nanjiani leading roles and greenlighting whatever project he wants? Just give him and Gordon a bucket of money – they will deliver. And it’ll be 100 per cent funnier than Mike and Dave Get Married, or Hot Tub Time Machine 3, or whatever crap is being planned right now.