Eternals: Kumail Nanjiani Says He Ensured His Character Was Opposite of 'Brown Dude' Stereotypes
Kumail Nanjiani says he wanted to change the way people from Pakistan and the Middle East are portrayed in the American pop culture by ensuring that his character of a superhero in Eternals was free of 'brown dude' stere
Actor
Kumail
Nanjiani
says
he
wanted
to
change
the
way
people
from
Pakistan
and
the
Middle
East
are
portrayed
in
the
American
pop
culture
by
ensuring
that
his
character
of
a
superhero
in
Eternals
was
free
of
'brown
dude'
stereotypes.
As
part
of
his
preparation
for
the
role
of
Kingo,
a
superhero
who
lives
on
Earth
as
a
popular
Bollywood
movie
star,
Nanjiani
had
a
complete
physical
tranformation,
which
the
actor
said
was
his
way
of
going
against
the
portrayal
of
nerdy
brown
guys
in
American
films.
“I’ve
been
in
this
industry
for
about
a
decade
and
I
looked
at
the
usual
opportunities
that
the
brown
dudes
get.
We
get
to
be
nerdy.
I
wanted
him
to
be
the
opposite
of
that
—
I
wanted
him
to
be
cool.
With
nerdy
goes
'weakling,’
and
I
wanted
him
to
be
the
opposite
of
that
and
to
be
strong
physically.
Or
we
get
to
be
terrorists,
and
I
wanted
him
to
be
the
opposite
of
that," the
actor
told
The
Los
Angeles
Times.
"I
wanted
him
to
be
this
character
full
of
joy.
In
working
with
Chloé
(Zhao,
the
director),
we
were
like,
let’s
take
every
single
thing
that
I
haven’t
gotten
to
do
and
make
a
character
who’s
the
exact
opposite
of
the
way
a
lot
of
American
pop
culture
see
people
from
Pakistan
or
the
Middle
East.”
The
43-year-old
actor
said
he
had
decided
to
have
fun
playing
the
superhero
in
the
highly-anticipated
drama
that
has
some
of
the
biggest
Hollywood
stars
in
Angelina
Jolie,
Richard
Madden,
Gemma
Chan,
Lauren
Ridloff,
Brian
Tyree
Henry,
Salma
Hayek,
Lia
McHugh,
Don
Lee,
and
Kit
Harington.
“I
was
very
lucky
that
Chloé
was
really
on
board
with
that.
Because
when
you
have
like
10
characters,
you’re
trying
to
set
yourself
apart
from
the
other
characters
and
find
your
own
shadings.
You’re
not
going
to
get
a
ton
of
real
estate.
So
you
want
it
to
come
from
a
very
specific
place.
I
decided
going
in,
I’m
going
to
have
fun
during
this
process.”
The
movie
is
about
the
titular
group
who
has
been
living
on
earth
for
the
past
7,000
years.
Created
by
cosmic
beings
called
Celestials,
the
Eternals
have
been
sent
to
Earth
to
safeguard
the
planet
from
their
evil
counterparts
Deviants.
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