Fans of “Silicon Valley” will find it hard to recognize Kumail Nanjiani in his upcoming role in Marvel’s “Eternals.” The 41-year-old actor showed off his new — positively ripped — physique on Instagram on Monday.
Nanjiani shared his thoughts about his six pack and ripped biceps, saying the transformation would’ve been impossible without trainers and dietitians.
“I never thought I’d be one of those people who would post a thirsty shirtless, but I’ve worked way too hard for way too long so here we are. You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain,” Nanjiani wrote. “I found out a year ago I was going to be in Marvel’s ‘Eternals’ and decided I wanted to transform how I looked. I would not have been able to do this if I didn’t have a full year with the best trainers and nutritionists paid for by the biggest studio in the world. 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.”
In July, before he officially signed on to “Eternals,” Nanjiani sat down with Variety‘s Marc Malkin to discuss bulking up and his decision to get in shape.
“I did a bulk so I basically ate a lot of protein, but also whatever I wanted. So I ate french fries, I ate ice cream for like four months. And now I’m cutting, so now I’m on the crazy diet. And so now it’s like no sugar,” Nanjiani said. “Listen, I love desserts. But I’d been eating whatever I wanted for four months, this actually doesn’t feel that hard. It feels like, ‘Oh, thank god.’ I was eating a meal right before going to bed. [My trainer] wanted me to eat a meal, a full meal, so at like 11, 11:30 p.m., I would eat a full meal and go to bed.”
“When I was a kid, I assumed at some point in my life I would be in perfect [shape], I would be the perfect male form, right? I just assumed it would happen. I would have crazy abs,” he said. “It just never happened, and I’m 41 now. I was like, ‘If it doesn’t happen this year, it’s just never going to happen.’ At the end of last year I was like, ‘Oh next year, I’m gonna be in the best shape of my life.’ It’s been really, really intense.”
Simu Liu — who will play superhero Shang-Chi in Marvel’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” — joked about Nanjiani’s new physique on Twitter.
Harold and Kumar go to Planet Fitness https://t.co/Kx7aquptgP
— Simu Liu (@SimuLiu) December 16, 2019
“Harold and Kumar go to Planet Fitness,” Liu said, referencing the stoner comedy series starring two Asian American actors.
Nanjiani rounds out the all-star cast of Marvel’s “Eternals” as Kingo, joining Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Kit Harington, Salma Hayek, Don Lee, Lia McHugh and Brian Tyree Henry. The upcoming Marvel Phase Four film hits theaters on Nov. 6.
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