wearing an unfortunate
necklace) and what it’s like to
start questioning your faith in
a strict Shiite family (tricky!).
Writing gigs begat acting gigs,
which begat Silicon Valley.
Since the 38-year-old
Nanjiani arrived in Hollywood
seven years ago, there have
been approximately zero great
romantic comedies and zero
fi rst-generation South Asian
immigrants playing
mainstream romantic leads.
Seeing this as both an aff ront
and an opportunity, Nanjiani
decided to produce a great
rom-com and star in it himself.
Which apparently wasn’t
enough of a challenge, because
he also decided to co-write the
movie with his wife, Emily V
Gordon. (Don’t feel bad that
you and your spouse barely
made it through the assembly
of an Ikea barstool).
Th e fi lm is about the
beginning of their
relationship, when Nanjiani’s
devout parents were
pressuring him into an
arranged marriage and
Gordon got so sick that she
was put into a medically
induced coma. Funny story,
right? Judd Apatow thought
so. And Th e Big Sick is
hilarious. And dryly brilliant.
And genuinely moving. We
spoke with the brand-new
movie star and future
comedy god about putting
himself in the spotlight and
changing Hollywood.GQ: Who were your
comedy heroes growing
up in Pakistan?
Kumail Nanjiani: Th ere was
a comedy team called Bud
Spencer and Terence Hill.
I thought they were an
American comedy duo like
Abbott and Costello. But they
were Italian dudes who took
on American-sounding
names. One of their big
movies was Who Finds a
Friend Finds a Treasure. Who
would name a movie that?
Somebody who had English asa second language. And
I watched Offi ce Space
and Beavis and Butt-Head
all the time. Until then,
you didn’t see nerdy,
unpopular people who are
assholes but presented with
a tremendous amount of
aff ection for the world that
those characters live in.GQ: The Big Sick is
about your family,
your wife, and your
actual career. Your
character is literally
named Kumail. Will it
be hard to bring that
kind of honesty to
something that’s not
your own story?KN: Anything that’s really
good has pieces of the
people who made it in them.
With Get Out, I’m sure
Jordan Peele put himself in
there, even if he doesn’t have
the experience of somebody
trying to put a white man’s
brain into his body.GQ: You’ve mentioned
wanting to play a
superhero. Who would
be the dream?
KN: How exciting would it
be if there was a Captain
America looking like
someone that we haven’t
traditionally thought of as
the American ideal? Th at
could be really interesting.Former Apatow
acolyte, executive
producer and director
of upcoming series
Future ManSeth
Rogen
Th e GQ
comedy
survey
Who’s your
comedy god?
Bill Murray. He is
just the funniest
person ever to be
on this planet.What’s the best
joke you’ve
ever heard?
Wha’s the last
thing you want to
hear while getting
a BJ from Willie
Nelson? ‘I’m not
Willie Nelson.’Who’s the next
great comedian?
Why?
John Mulaney is
someone who is
getting funnier and
funnier, which is
amazing, because
he’s always been
funny. And Nathan
Fielder is another
person I’m just
consistently blown
away by – I look
forward to few
things in life more
than new episodes
of Nathan for You.ER 2017 GQ.CO.ZA 83Dalin Oliver
Good Hope FM co-host; star of nationwide
comedy show Face for RadioCOMEDY
SPECIALI
t was during my recent one-man
show Face for Radio at the Baxter
theatre. There’s a segment where
I speak about Crack-a-Snack and
hand out a few packets to the audience
members. It’s the chips we’d buy from
the house shop while growing up.
Everyone who grew up in the hood ate
it or its equivalent – basically 50 cent
chips. Former Springbok legend
Chester Williams was in the audience.
There was a point when he had a few
packets in his hand and was passing
them on to people sitting
around him. I chirped
him and said that
this is what nation
building was all
about. Who
needs Francois
Pienaar to hand
out Lay’s when
Chester Williams
is giving
everyone
Crack-a-Snack.
He was a good
sport. It was
a picture-perfect
moment. >>What was the last thing that made
you laugh?WORDS BY ANNA PEELE. PHOTOGRAPH BY PETER YANG