I love Kumail Nanjiani. He is very funny and I find him handsome too – he has a nice smile and kind eyes. I didn’t really care about his body – this is actually the first time I even considered the fact that he HAS a body. But Kumail wants us to know about his body. He’s pulling a Chris Pratt – or something? – and suddenly going to the gym constantly and trying to get beefy and cut. He’s 41 years old! I don’t know, I go to the gym a lot too but I’ve never tried to build 20 pounds of muscle out of nowhere, which is what Kumail is trying to do. He spoke about his gym journey to Men’s Health, and he makes it sound like he’s actually doing it to be considered for more acting jobs. Some highlights from the piece:
On making a transformation from comedic actor into action star: “I realize what’s holding me back from those roles is how I look. So I’m changing that.”
On becoming addicted to exercise: “When I’m exercising, I’m not thinking about anything else. It’s like meditation.” That may be why Nanjiani’s friends “practically staged an intervention” a few months ago to get him out of the gym. The last thing they want is a T-1000 clone of Nanjiani replacing Silicon Valley’s Dinesh. “Effort isn’t funny,” he says. “Several of my friends have said, ‘There’s nothing funny about a guy who works out all the time.’” Nanjiani doesn’t care. “I’m kind of obsessed with it.”
On expanding his acting range: “Look at Bruce Willis in Die Hard. He was very funny while staying true to the tone of the movie. If I can be a big, buff person with the same outlook I have now, that would be pretty cool. There aren’t many people around like that.
On his go-to cheat meal: “Pakistani food is delicious, but it’s a lot of carbs: biryani, naan bread, tons of rice. Afterward, my wife and I will say, ‘Let’s take a quick nap.’We wake up five hours later.”
On his current diet: “Basically, it’s five days of low-carb, then over the weekend you eat as much as you want. But I’m trying to figure out the food thing right now because I wasn’t eating enough. I’m still kind of afraid of gaining the wrong kind of weight, because I’m very vain.”
On his facial hair: “I grew a beard because I needed a crutch to start working out intensely. But it’s going well now, so I’m going to shave it.”
You actually can get addicted to exercise, because of the release of endorphins. Endorphins are like your body’s natural morphine – they give you that satisfied, tired-but-happy feeling at the end of your workout. And people get addicted to that feeling, and so they work out more, and then if they stop working out, they have a “come down” because their body isn’t producing those endorphins. I don’t hate that Kumail is trying to change it up and redefine who he is as an actor, but… yeah, I just don’t think he’s suddenly going to get hired for all of the action-hero roles. But I’m sure he enjoys his workouts.
Photos courtesy of Hana Asano for Men’s Health magazine, sent from promotional Men’s Health email.
Oh no, please don’t give up comedy, Kumail! His standup (pre Hollywood and Silicon Valley when he was writing his own stuff) is brilliant.
But he did get an action role, he got cast in Marvel’s Eternals! I bet part of this is coming from his desire to meet the Marvel model just like Chris Pratt.
Yeah I about to say didn’t he just get cast in a Marvel movie? It’s possible he started working out before he was cast in the movie but my guess maybe he was in talks and was already working out like a regular person. Then obviously he realized he’d have to get in serious shape for the role, hired a training coach, and then while intensely working out for this role, he developed a love for exercising. Regardless he was going to have to stick to an intense training plan once he was cast in the movie.
That guy from the office (Jim) did the same! He was hilarious and had a normal body. Then he starred getting ripped and now is doing action-type films rather than comedy.
There is more money in action films so I can’t blame them. My husband is ripped at 52, I guess you can say he is addicted to exercising regularly. I’ll take it, much better than if he was addicted to food, porn, or affairs!
Exercise is really important to my mental health but I’m able to limit myself to an hour a day and then I forget about it. Hopefully Kumail will eventually find some balance.
Addiction to exercise is no joke, my son has been obsessed for over five years now and it’s harrowing. There is a thing called muscle dysmorphia, aka “bigorexia” where building big muscles is the sole focus. Like many eating disorders it’s a form of OCD and it is very treatment-resistant at least in my son’t case. It all appears very healthy on the surface — healthy eating, free time at the gym instead of partying or whatever — but it can interfere terribly with living a normal, balanced life.
How old is your son? My almost 20 year old daughter and boyfriend are both incredibly aware of environmental issues so they are quite inflexible vegans (I am a very flexible one, when it comes to dairy). On the surface it is healthy but she lost a lot of weight because they avoid plastic wrapping, non-sustainable food-chains and restaurants, etc. I am torn between thinking they are right, and being a bit concerned with how tiny she went (and him too, but he eats a ton). She is staying a few days with us and I am starting to suspect that this whole weight loss has started to please her and she is now doing it for non-sustainable reasons. She is not unhealthy but she seems too feeble for a dancer (which is what she is studying). It’s that age right? They are sooooooooo exagerated with everything, And no sense of humour bless their hearts.
He just turned 20, so yeah. Sigh. He’s also on the autism spectrum so he tends to see so many things in very black and white terms. My guy has a sense of humor in general but definitely not about this. He’s defensive, which shows me that he knows he’s overdoing it but just cannot find a middle ground. He had a terrible semester in the spring and I’d hoped this summer he might make some progress with a therapist on this but so far nothing seems to have changed…and he only has a few weeks before he goes back to school again. I’m feeling sick as I type this, wondering how he’s going to manage.
I have seen a number of girls, once they lose weight, sort of get addicted to the habits that led to it. One ended up with an eating disorder but managed to pull through it fairly quickly. My heart goes out to you. And to the parents who say to me, “Parenting must be so much easier now that your kids are older,” I say “HA.”
Oh no, my gosh! Parenting is much harder when they start having grown-up problems. My heart goes out to you too. Being in the spectrum certainly brings in the need for a more nuanced approach to the problem. My oldest boy has a tendency to anxiety and an ex-girlfriend (potentially becoming current girlfriend now) who is undegoing massive changes in her life because she left an abusive houseld. (She is going to court tomorrow). He is in such a state because of her. And he is very hard to approach. My husband and I switched roles and it seems to work better for us (he became the tough one and I am now the soft, understanding one). This seems to have worked as I can be much snarkier and rough than his dad. We try to reinvent ourselves all the time right? I am with you with the nerves writing this. It gest so so so hard. I hope you find a way to get throught to your son. I am sure you will. You sound very caring and kind, and wise.
Sounds like he’s still eating regularly and less carbs and just working out like crazy. Everything in excess can be bad BUT there are far worst things than exercise. Good for him and hopefully he finds a good balance
I would think there is a good chance that this transformation is in large part because of his newly announced role in Marvel’s Eternals. That was only just announced, so unless this interview was done in literally the last week, then he likely couldn’t talk about it at all in the interview. Not saying that’s ALL it’s about, but yeah, I would think it’s a large part of it. You know what you’re signing up for when you sign on to play a Marvel superhero.
Yeah I heard him talking about it in an interview and it sounded like it was for a specific role.
He looks more fit, but not going over board and crazy bulky “action” star. He’s filming a superhero movie right now, so restricting to look extra cut is pretty common and I’m sure his diet will be more ‘everything in moderation’ afterwards. My husband loves to exercise too, for me it’s a means to an end… everyone’s different there.
And this is why I love Mark Ruffalo.
Love him. I hope he doesn’t give up comedy and keeps writing too!
Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don’t shoot their husbands. They just don’t.
🤣🤣🤣
He’s really handsome and seems sweet.
I see what you did there! The sage words of Elle Woods, Esq. (supposed to be responding to Meredith)
Classic. Lol.
As long as he doesn’t, like, leave his wife. I am 42 and recently lost some weight and feel motivated to continue, so I get that
He’s going to go from the class clown you have a crush on shamefully to the hot jock who rejects you NOOOOO
I thought he looked really jacked at comiccon
He started working out with his wrestling costar in Stuber, according to interviews, it was a way to bond with him. I get it, it’s empowering to see results after 40, those endorphins are no joke it, excercise is my Prozac.
Isn’t he cast in one of the new Marvel movies? if so, this is probably about that
He’s gotten in shape and bared it all before actually! And he looked pretty damn good I thought… anyone else besides me remember his ridiculous masseuse scenes in Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates?! That was his actual physique.