Kumail Nanjiani 'proud' of Marvel role despite what critics said
Kumail Nanjiani wouldn't change a thing about his performance in Marvel's 2021 flop Eternals.
Kumail Nanjiani is "very proud" of his performance in Marvel's Eternals movie despite it being slated by critics.
Nanjiani’s biggest onscreen project came in 2021 with the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) flick.
In the film, Sersi (Gemma Chan), Ikaris (Richard Madden), Kingo (Nanjiani) and their fellow Eternals reunite on Earth to protect humanity after thousands of years living in secret.
As the truth behind their mission and the Celestials is revealed, the team’s bonds fracture and their loyalty to each other is put to the ultimate test.
The film also starred Kit Harington as Black Knight, Barry Keoghan as Druig and Angelina Jolie as Thena.
When Eternals released in November 2021, the movie underperformed at the box office - grossing $402.1 million worldwide against a production budget of $236.2 million.
Nanjiani revealed he had signed on to appear in six Marvel movies, but plans changed after Eternals flopped - leaving the actor needing therapy.
Despite the ordeal, Nanjiani maintains that he is still proud of his part and wouldn't change a thing.
Appearing on NPR's Wild Card podcast, he said: “I’m very proud of my performance in it.
“And it’s rare to say, but I actually wouldn’t change anything about how I am in that movie.”
The Fallout actor went on to explain that he always sees failures as an "opportunity to learn".
He said: “Most times if I’m acting in something, I do not get to decide how good it’s gonna be.
“I do not get to choose how the audience is going to receive it. I do not get to choose how much money it’s going to make. I do not get to choose what the reviewers are going to think of it. What I do get to choose is whether or not I learned from it, you know? So to me, that’s been a thing that I have to remind myself over and over and over and over – is that a failure is not a failure. It truly is an opportunity to learn… What I can control is learning from every job and taking a joyful approach to every job.”
Speaking on the Working It Out podcast, he said of his therapy sessions: “I talked about how I was in this big movie. It came out right after Covid, so I had a year and a half at home to just be like, ‘Oh, when this thing comes out!’
“But then it came out and it got really bad reviews and it didn’t do that well. It shattered me too much. That’s when I was like, ‘Oh I need to go to therapy to figure this out.’
“I was like, ‘Oh, this is going to be my job for the next 10 years’.
“I signed on for six movies. I signed on for a video game. I signed on for a theme park ride. They make you sign up for all this stuff. And you’re like, ‘This is the next 10 years of my life, so I’ll be doing Marvel movies every year and, in between, I’ll do my own little things, whatever I want to do.’ And then none of that happened.”
