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- Why Kumail Nanjiani Wanted To Join The Cast Of Welcome To Chippendales
- Did Kumail Nanjiani Base His Welcome To Chippendales Performance On People He Knows?
Kumail Nanjiani is no stranger to transformation. Most famously, he got absolutely shredded for his role in Marvel’s Eternals. But the Pakistani-American actor transcended being stereotyped after his acclaimed role in Silicon Valley and has gone on to show quite an array of his talents in show businesses. But one role he was eager to play was that of the baddie.
Enter Hulu’s Welcome to Chippendales.
During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Nanjiani expressed how happy he is to be playing a far more devious character in Banerjee, the man who launches the Chippendales business in the acclaimed show.
Why Kumail Nanjiani Wanted To Join The Cast Of Welcome To Chippendales
The whole world really got to know Kumail Nanjiani in his semi-autobiographical love story, The Big Sick. He, of course, was charming, endlessly likable, and downright funny. These are not exactly the characteristics of his Welcome to Chippendales character, Somen “Steve” Banerjee, the man constantly at odds with Murray Bartlett’s character, Nick De Noia.
During his interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Nanjiani admitted that it was indeed the darker elements of the character that made him want to join the cast.
“I’ve never gotten the opportunity to play a character like this, who has such a big arc and a descent into darkness. I’ve always [wanted to play] the bad guy — I don’t mean just guys who were kind of s****y; I mean a bad bad guy,” Kumail Nanjiani explained.
On top of this, the Silicon Valley actor thought the story itself was “exciting and unexpected”.
“There are, like, 20 unbelievable things that happen in the course of our show, and that all happened in real life,” he said to The Hollywood Reporter. “And it had interesting stuff to say about the American Dream and how accessible it is to different kinds of people, and to see that through the lens of an immigrant. I’m an immigrant, and I had a certain idea of the American Dream before coming here. And now, obviously, that’s evolved. To be able to explore that through the eyes of someone who, in some ways, had a similar experience to me is rare.”
Did Kumail Nanjiani Base His Welcome To Chippendales Performance On People He Knows?
Kumail Nanjiani told The Hollywood Reporter that he created his Welcome to Chippendales performance “in opposition to everything around me”. This comment doesn’t just refer to the fact that so many people simply can’t see him as a villain due to his previous roles, but it also refers to the character himself. Of course, Steve Banerjee was a very real person, but Nanjiani brought his own flair to it.
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“I saw a picture of [the real] Steve Banerjee with his Chippendales dancers, and it was this pudgy Indian nerd in a suit surrounded by these shirtless white Adonises. I was, like, ‘He’s the king of a world that he doesn’t belong in.’ That was a very compelling image. He’s surrounded by all these men who are very in touch with their bodies, who are very comfortable in their own skin. Murray’s performance as Nick De Noia is the same way; he’s very fluid and comfortable with himself. I thought Steve should be the opposite of all that,” Nanjiani explained to The Hollywood Reporter.
Nanjiani believed that Banerjee needed to be extremely uncomfortable in his own skin and quite rigid in his movements.
“The rigidity comes from that disconnect. You see the cracks pop up every now and then, and obviously, they get wider. I wanted it to feel like every molecule of his body is working to keep that contained. He’s always working really hard to not explode.”
Another aspect of the character is the fact that he wields a lot of power. Nanjiani told The Hollywood Reporter that he channeled some of the energy of certain Hollywood types into the performance.
“I’ve certainly met people like that in Hollywood — [there are people who] will treat me now as a more valid person because I have more success,” he admitted.
Nanjiani went on to claim that he brought real life experiences with these types into Banerjee’s worldview. But he was also fascinated but another aspect of the character. One that few audience members may have considered…
“I was looking at characters who end up being evil in movies, and I feel like there’s something childish about them. They’re narcissistic. They don’t quite understand the consequences of their actions. In the first couple of episodes, if I’m doing my job right, you see that innocence that’s in him. His desire to succeed is almost childlike. I think we’ve seen in real life some evil figures that loom large and are ultimately very childish in the way that they [present] themselves in the world. For him, personal relationships are always about who’s the boss, who’s the servant.”
