Kumail Nanjiani Reveals How 'Eternals' Backlash Landed Him In Therapy
HuffPost
The former comedian spent an entire year in the gym to prepare for his big Marvel movie break, only for the 2021 film to receive 47% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Kumail Nanjiani is still hurt by the “Eternals” backlash — and says it sent him to counseling.
The Oscar-nominated screenwriter transformed his entire physique to star in the 2021 Marvel film, only for critics to brutally trounce it. Nanjiani recalled Tuesday on “Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum” that this was “really, really hard” and affects him to this day.
“Marvel thought that movie was going to be really, really well reviewed, so they lifted the embargo early and put it in some fancy movie festivals and they sent us on a big global tour to promote the movie right as the embargo lifted,” the comedian told Rosenbaum.
The studio, which has purportedly meddled with the creative vision of its directors before, hired Oscar winner Chloe Zhao to helm the film. Despite its popular brand and star-studded cast, “Eternals” was slammed for its overwrought scale and clunky character motivations.
Nanjiani spent an entire year in the gym to prepare for his big studio movie break, only for it to end up with a 47% Rotten Tomatoes rating from critics. The actor said Tuesday he was “too aware” of the reviews, read “every” one and started acting “unfair” to himself and his wife Emily Gordon.