I love Kumail Nanjiani. He is very funny and I find him handsome too – he has a nice smile and kind eyes. I didn’t really care about his body – this is actually the first time I even considered the fact that he HAS a body. But Kumail wants us to know about his body. He’s pulling a Chris Pratt – or something? – and suddenly going to the gym constantly and trying to get beefy and cut. He’s 41 years old! I don’t know, I go to the gym a lot too but I’ve never tried to build 20 pounds of muscle out of nowhere, which is what Kumail is trying to do. He spoke about his gym journey to Men’s Health, and he makes it sound like he’s actually doing it to be considered for more acting jobs. Some highlights from the piece:
On making a transformation from comedic actor into action star: “I realize what’s holding me back from those roles is how I look. So I’m changing that.”
On becoming addicted to exercise: “When I’m exercising, I’m not thinking about anything else. It’s like meditation.” That may be why Nanjiani’s friends “practically staged an intervention” a few months ago to get him out of the gym. The last thing they want is a T-1000 clone of Nanjiani replacing Silicon Valley’s Dinesh. “Effort isn’t funny,” he says. “Several of my friends have said, ‘There’s nothing funny about a guy who works out all the time.’” Nanjiani doesn’t care. “I’m kind of obsessed with it.”
On expanding his acting range: “Look at Bruce Willis in Die Hard. He was very funny while staying true to the tone of the movie. If I can be a big, buff person with the same outlook I have now, that would be pretty cool. There aren’t many people around like that.
On his go-to cheat meal: “Pakistani food is delicious, but it’s a lot of carbs: biryani, naan bread, tons of rice. Afterward, my wife and I will say, ‘Let’s take a quick nap.’We wake up five hours later.”
On his current diet: “Basically, it’s five days of low-carb, then over the weekend you eat as much as you want. But I’m trying to figure out the food thing right now because I wasn’t eating enough. I’m still kind of afraid of gaining the wrong kind of weight, because I’m very vain.”
On his facial hair: “I grew a beard because I needed a crutch to start working out intensely. But it’s going well now, so I’m going to shave it.”
You actually can get addicted to exercise, because of the release of endorphins. Endorphins are like your body’s natural morphine – they give you that satisfied, tired-but-happy feeling at the end of your workout. And people get addicted to that feeling, and so they work out more, and then if they stop working out, they have a “come down” because their body isn’t producing those endorphins. I don’t hate that Kumail is trying to change it up and redefine who he is as an actor, but… yeah, I just don’t think he’s suddenly going to get hired for all of the action-hero roles. But I’m sure he enjoys his workouts.
Photos courtesy of Hana Asano for Men’s Health magazine, sent from promotional Men’s Health email.
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