Kumail Nanjiani spoke candidly about his experience working on the critically panned Marvel film “Eternals” on a recent episode of NPR’s Wild Card with Rachel Martin, saying the film changed the way he approached work – something he was “very grateful” for.
“I am very proud of my performance,” he said. “And it’s rare to say, but in reality, I wouldn’t change a thing about the way I am in this movie.”
The actor and comedian played superhero Kingo in the 2021 fantasy film alongside fellow stars Kit Harington, Richard Madden, Gemma Chan and Angelina Jolie. Despite a loaded cast, the film opened to disappointing box office and lukewarm reviews from critics.
On the podcast, Nanjiani then shared her key learnings from the experience, including the importance of separating “my experience of something and the outcome of something.”
“Most of the time, if I’m in something, I can’t decide how good it’s going to be,” the “Silicon Valley” star explained. “I can’t choose how the public is going to receive it. I can’t choose how much money it’s going to make. I can’t choose what the critics are going to think about it. What I can choose is whether I learned from it or not, you know? So for me, that’s one thing that I have to remind myself over and over again: that failure is not failure. It’s really an opportunity to learn… What I can control is learning from each work and adopt a joyful approach to every job.
In the past, Nanjiani has been open about his feelings around the project, explaining how the negative reception to “Eternals” led him to therapy on fellow comedian Mike Birbiglia’s “Working It Out” podcast.
“I signed for six films,” Nanjiani said. “They make you sign up for all this…and none of this happened.”
Most recently, the actor returned to the stage for the first time in a decade for his new Hulu comedy special “Night Thoughts.”
