‘Eternals’ Kumail Nanjiani looks like he could kick ‘Silicon Valley’ Kumail Nanjiani’s butt
Leaving “Silicon Valley” does a body good.
Kumail Nanjiani more than proved that Monday when he posted admittedly “thirsty shirtless” photos of himself flexing his newly toned celestial body — a satisfying result of a rigorous diet and exercise regimen he undertook for Marvel’s upcoming superhero flick “Eternals.”
The pic scored him 70,000 likes on Instagram within two hours of posting.
“I’ve worked way too hard for way too long so here we are,” the “Stuber” actor wrote, not apologizing for the clickbait he shared. “You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.”
The actor’s physical transformation began a year ago when he found out he’d been cast in the Disney-backed flick about immortal beings who shape civilizations. According to comics lore, his character, Kingo, is a genetically engineered Eternal on Earth who is a skilled swordsman. So, Nanjiani decided to reshape his own civilization first and did so with the help of “the best trainers and nutritionists paid for by the biggest studio in the world.”
Surely starring alongside Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Richard Madden, Kit Harington, Brian Tyree Henry and Gemma Chan had no effect, right?
“I’m glad I look like this, but I also understand why I never did before. It would have been impossible without these resources and time,” he added, thanking a slew of trainers who made him “understand true physical pain for months and months.”
Theirs was a gentle friendship forged in the cozy confines of an eco-friendly Nissan Leaf, the electric car that serves as a roving setting for bromance in the new action-comedy “Stuber.”
Nanjiani said the training helped him become “strong, limber and injury free” on set and noted he can “almost” touch his toes now.
The Oscar-nominated screenwriter also thanked his wife, Emily V. Gordon — with whom he wrote and costarred in 2017’s “The Big Sick” — for “putting up with me complaining and talking about only working out and dieting for the last year. I promise I’ll be interesting again some day.”
Her response? “Worth it.”
“My husband works hard for every role he takes, but he’s worked hard in many new ways for this one. I’m so proud of him. I always have been. Also, we spent the majority of this past weekend playing Borderlands 3 so don’t think he’s changed too much,” Gordon tweeted.
Props also came pouring in on Nanjiani’s comments, with kudos from comedian Ali Wong and “Queer Eye” star Jonathan Van Ness and a barb from comic Chelsea Handler, who poked fun at the actor’s self-awareness, writing, “This is ridiculous. This means anyone can get fit.”
And another Marvel newcomer, Simu Liu, who is beefing up to star in “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” also had this pith to add to the discourse: “Harold and Kumar go to Planet Fitness,” he tweeted, responding to a post showing him and Nanjiani shirtless.
“Eternals” is due in theaters next November.
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