Kumail Nanjiani Talks Marvel's 'Eternals' Flopping & What He Thinks of His Performance In the Movie
Kumail Nanjiani is opening up about the critical and box office failure of his movie Eternals.
The 47-year-old actor starred as Kingo in the ensemble cast of the 2021 Marvel film, which was received quite poorly from critics and fans alike.
In a recently released interview, Kumail talked about his performance in the movie, as well as it underperforming at the box office.
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“I’m proud of that movie. I’m very proud of my performance in that movie. I don’t have any regrets with the way I approached the work. That movie changed how I approach work, and I’m very grateful for it. And I’m very proud of my performance in it,” Kumail said on NPR‘s Wild Card with Rachel Martin.
“And it’s rare to say, but I actually wouldn’t change anything about how I am in that movie. But the big takeaway from that is I have to separate my experience of something versus the result of something,” he added. “Yeah. One of those I can control. One of those I cannot control, right? So, um, what I can control is learning from every job and honestly, um, taking a joyful approach to every job.”
Earlier in the episode, he noted how the result of a movie he’s been in is out of his control once he’s done filming.
“Most times if I’m acting in something, I do not get to decide how good it’s gonna be. I do not get to choose how the audience is going to receive it. I do not get to choose how much money it’s going to make. I do not get to choose what the reviewers are going to think of it,” Kumail said. “What I do get to choose is whether or not I learned from it, you know? So to me, that’s been a thing that I have to remind myself over and over and over and over – is that a failure is not a failure. It truly is an opportunity to learn.”
Earlier this year, Kumail revealed details of his Marvel contract before the movie flopped, sharing how long he signed up for to be in the franchise.