"Kumail Nanjiani has night thoughts. You have them, too. They are the things that arrive unbidden in your head in the middle of the night. Do my coworkers like me? Who's my ex seeing now? Whatever happened to my high school varsity jacket? The things that keep you up until 3 am. Kumail Nanjiani gets them too. Naturally, his are funnier than yours. They range from racial double-standards (why do white folks get to have all hair and eye colors naturally?)"
"After spending a year working on a major superhero movie that didn't quite pan out as he'd hoped, Nanjiani's night thoughts began skewing deeper than worrying about people sneaking into his backyard pool. The 47-year-old comedian turned actor ruminated over his relationship to work. He considered the meaning of success, which he'd found in spades between Oscar and Emmy nominations (for his work on 2017's semi-autobiographical The Big Sick and 2023's Welcome to Chippendales, respectively)."
"Nanjiani learned how to take a loss the hard way after starring in 2021's Marvel Cinematic Universe entry, Eternals. Just being in a franchise superhero movie isn't a rocket ship to the heavens. People have to like the movie, and through no fault of Nanjiani's own, his movie was a dud from a then-invincible franchise. Kumail Nanjiani became haunted by his night thoughts. He tried therapy. It was more productive than sitting around taking potshots from smartmouths on Twitter."
Kumail Nanjiani experiences intrusive late-night 'night thoughts' that range from trivial curiosities to pointed observations about race and consumer culture. His comic instincts render these thoughts humorous until professional disappointment deepens them. After a year on a major superhero project that underperformed, he began to ruminate on work, success, and failure despite prior Oscar and Emmy recognition. The poor reception of a franchise film taught him that big projects do not guarantee acclaim. He sought therapy, which proved more constructive than online criticism and helped him reassess how to handle loss.
Read at www.esquire.com
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