Nanjiani feels lucky to not be put in a box
Star continues to stretch as actor in ‘Welcome to Chippendales’
Chippendales. The name conjures up either visions of finely crafted furniture or gyrating men in G-strings, depending on your point of reference. Hulu’s true-crime limited series “Welcome to Chippendales” focuses on the latter as it recounts the rise of America’s first successful all-male strip revue for women — and the downfall of the unlikely mastermind behind the show’s success, Somen “Steve” Banerjee.
Kumail Nanjiani plays the Mumbai native who immigrated in the 1970s to Los Angeles, where he bought a bar on Overland Avenue. There the former gas station attendant launched a “Male Exotic Dance Night for Ladies Only.” He inexplicably named it Chippendales. The first of its kind, the hard-bodied strip spectacle blossomed into a national empire replete with hunkof-the-month calendars and lucrative dance tours. But the fun ended when Banerjee was charged with orchestrating the 1987 murder of the strip show’s former choreographer, Nick De Noia (played by Murray Bartlett). Sentenced to 26 years in prison, Banerjee was found dead in his cell in 1994 of an apparent suicide.
Nominated for five Emmy Awards, including for Nanjiani and Bartlett, “Welcome to Chippendales” chronicles Banerjee’s fish-out-of-water journey through campy 1980s LA, with all its hedonism, glitz and rampant cocaine use.
“It’s a fascinating way to look at the American dream and how it’s sold to people outside of America,” Nanjiani says. “I remember growing up in Pakistan in the ’80s, and the image we had in our head was that America had streets paved
with gold, and everyone is equal. If you work really hard you can make it, but obviously that’s not true. To have Banerjee negotiate the fantasy version of it with the reality was really interesting to me.”
Leg warmers, big hair and short shorts (on men) animate this gripping eightpart series from Robert Siegel, capturing a time when anything goes — as long as it made money. Though it’s a period drama,
Nanjiani argues that many of the series themes resonate today. “The version of success (Banerjee) had in his head was very white and very corporate: No company is ever the right size because the only right size is bigger than it was yesterday,” he says in an interview held before the actors strike. “… (Steve) is very successful, but he’s been completely corrupted by what he sees around him. Chippendales is huge.
He created this thing out of nothing, and it’s an international sensation, but it’s not enough.”
Calling attention to characters who might otherwise blend in with the wallpaper is Nanjiani’s superpower. His notable roles include tech nerd Dinesh in HBO’s comedy series “Silicon Valley” and the love-struck Uber driver in the film “The
Big Sick.” The cosmicpowered Kingo in Marvel’s “The Eternals” is another story. But here on Earth, the role of the brilliant, socially awkward Banerjee was perhaps his most challenging to date.
The lurid story behind the burlesque show captivated the actor when he read the script in 2017, but he grappled with how to portray the unremarkableness of his character amid the club’s screaming flamboyance. He found the answer while looking through old photos from the club’s heyday.
“It was from a photo shoot of all these Adonises and (choreographer) Nick, and then this guy who just looked very different from them,” Nanjiani says. “He was the boss of people who would otherwise never allow him to be part of their group. To play him, I wanted his physicality to be in opposition to everyone around him. Everyone is very fabulous and graceful and in touch with their bodies. I thought he should be the opposite. He’s completely cut off from everything below his neck.”
The series, which also has earned a nomination for its period costumes, plays up the outlandish wardrobe of the club’s dancers and the cringey 1980s styles of its patrons. Banerjee’s wardrobe is quiet in comparison, which spoke volumes to Nanjiani.
A dispute over touring rights of the successful show caused a rift between Banerjee and De Noia. Increasingly paranoid that he was going to lose his empire, Banerjee decided De Noia had to be removed and hired a hit man. De Noia was shot to death in his New York office in April 1987. Banerjee hid his crime well. Believing he had gotten away with murder, he then plotted to kill three former Chippendales performers who had joined a competing dance troupe. That poisoning scheme was foiled when the FBI got involved and arrested Banerjee in 1993.
“In the beginning, he’s very focused and ambitious, and that is why you want him to succeed,” Nanjiani says. “But it’s those very same qualities that lead him to do all this bad stuff. The ways in which he changes are not as significant as the ways in which he doesn’t change. That’s what leads him down the path of destruction. That’s the tragedy of the story.”
Nanjiani has stretched as an actor since his roots as a stand-up comedian in Chicago. He got his first big break in 2009 when a series he was writing for and starring in, “Michael & Michael Have Issues,” was picked up by Comedy Central. From there he appeared in “The Colbert Report” and other shows across multiple networks, including “Veep.” He landed “Silicon Valley” in 2014, which launched his career to new levels. Three years later Nanjiani starred in the romantic comedy “The Big Sick,” which he wrote with his wife, Emily V. Gordon. The couple later co-developed the AppleTV+ series “Little America,” shining a light on the immigrant experience through the re-creation of true stories. It was 2021 when Nanjiani became part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Nanjiani counts himself lucky. “It’s very easy in this industry to get put into a box,” he says. “Obviously, if you’re not white, you get put into a box, but also it’s an industry that likes to classify (all) performers. This person can play a nerd. This person can play an action star. It’s allergic to taking risks and having true imagination and vision when it comes to casting. So it is challenging.
“My priority has been to do different types of things and stuff that is difficult for me because I find that more satisfying. I always want to take on a job that allows me to go at least 10% further than I’ve ever gone before. I want to read a script and say, ‘I don’t exactly know how I’m going to do this, but I want to figure it out.’ Figuring it out is the fun part.”