Page 78 - SHARP Winter 2022
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But Nanjiani swears he was always a nerd. “I was the guy who was into video games, sci-fi, horror, superhero stuff, like, way more than anybody around,” Nanjiani explains, before further clarifying, “Like, you know, way, way, way more. After the summer, kids would come [back to school] and their skin would be darker because they’d been out in the sun. My skin would be lighter — because I hadn’t left the house. Because I’ve been playing Shinobi and Golden Axe and watching Gremlins over and over.”
Nanjiani watched the ballooning popularity of nerd culture a bit suspiciously. He was worried that all the stuff he liked would get watered down as it entered the mainstream. He even felt a bit possessive. “There was a moment where I was like, ‘Wait, but this is my stuff. This is not your stuff. I should have this stuff,’” he recalls. “But I got over that pretty quickly, because to me, the joy of being able to talk to a bunch of people about superheroes or sci-fi or horror or video games nullified that gatekeeping instinct. As a kid, I didn’t have people, really, that I could talk to about this stuff. Now I have a ton of people I could talk to about this stuff!”
Today, he finds himself smack dab in the centre of the con- versation. Eager to look the part of a real-deal superhero, Nanjiani began putting on weight. In late 2019, he started sharing photos of his new body. “I never thought I’d be one of those people who would post a thirsty shirtless,” began one lengthy Instagram caption that accompanied a glamour shot of the actor looking physically unrecognizable. Online conversations curdled. Some worried they had lost a beloved, relatable nerd-culture icon. Some claimed that Nanjiani was being unfairly forced through some Marvel–Disney workout gauntlet. There were jokes about steroid use. In fact, Nan- jiani made the decision to get into shape of his own volition, without studio pressure. He says that The Eternals director Chloé Zhao was herself shocked to see the transformation.
The conversation turned again. Others claimed there was a double standard in criticizing Nanjiani’s bro-up. After all, other pop culture Nice Guys — like Chris Pratt and The Office’s Jim Halpert− turned−Jack Ryan John Krasinski — went through similar transfor- mations. Was Nanjiani judged more harshly because he was South Asian? (Again, Nanjiani has said that it was precisely because he was the first South Asian Marvel superhero that he wanted to make sure he could believably go toe to toe with Thor or Captain America.) In the weeks leading up to the film’s release, online conversation turned once more. In response to one fan’s online assertion that spoiling The Eternals should be punishable by a $1 million fine, the ironized ranks of so-called “Film Twitter,” whose members exhibit a vigorous hostility toward Marvel fare, began circulating fake spoilers that Kingo (the character played by Nanjiani) dies in the film. For
the benefit of his own sanity, Nanjiani filters out these comments. He just can’t bring himself to be bothered.
“I just don’t read anything anybody says about me,” he explains before launching into some armchair neurobiology. “I don’t think our brains are meant to get feedback from that many people at the same time. I go on Twitter, you know, and I look at my replies; it’s just like so many people saying stuff to me all the time — positive, negative, whatever it is. It’s an overload. It stresses me out, no matter what. So I just have to completely, like, try and disengage from all of that.”
Among the nastier criticisms, there was that one gravely serious worry: had Nanjiani, a confirmed “beta male,” crossed the aisle? Was he betraying the long-suffering brotherhood of geeks and indoor kids to run with the alpha dogs? He says no. “It is the nerd–jock thing,” he says. “I completely understand. If I had a comedian who I loved, and he was a nerd to me, and suddenly he, like, changed the way he looked and looked like one of my oppressors? I would feel betrayed! I would feel upset. I mean, I really worry...but I know I’m not any different.”
He says the pandemic has compounded the problem of people mistaking him for a big-time jock. (A recent glossy magazine shoot that saw him re-enacting scenes from classic ’80s action movies probably didn’t help, either.) But opinions seem to be levelling out a bit. After all, it has been almost two years since Nanjiani posted his first thirsty bro-up photo on Instagram. Fans are acclimatizing to the new look and realizing that he is, to a large extent, still the same dorky guy at heart. “Now, because of this press, some inter- views and stuff are coming out,” he says, sounding a bit relieved, “and people are like, ‘Oh, he changed his body but he’s still talks in the same nerdy voice.’”
Nanjiani is quick to point out that, in his previous iteration, it’s not like he was some hopelessly shy loser. Even on the Beta Male album, he exudes confidence. He doesn’t act any differently. He doesn’t think any differently. Except now, he says, he might have a tougher time selling his older jokes about being afraid of people. Because in the years he spent training for The Eternals, Nanjiani learned how to fight. And dance.
78 WINTER 2022
SHARPMAGAZINE.COM
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RAWING FROM ANCIENT MYTHOLOGY
and science-fiction serials, The Eternals comics proved a heady change of pace from Marvel’s more relatable (and bankable) costumed heroes. This wasn’t Peter Parker, bitten by a radioactive spider and thrust into the world of adult responsibility.
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