Kumail Nanjiani facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Kumail Nanjiani
Nanjiani at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con
Birth name	Kumail Ali Nanjiani
Born	(1978-05-02) May 2, 1978 (age 47) Karachi, Pakistan
Medium	Stand-up film television
Education	Karachi Grammar School, Grinnell College (BA)
Spouse	Emily V. Gordon ​ (m. 2007)​
Relative(s)	Shereen Nanjiani (second cousin)

Kumail Ali Nanjiani (born May 2, 1978) is a Pakistani-American comedian and actor. He is famous for his roles in many popular shows and movies. You might know him as Dinesh from the TV comedy series Silicon Valley. He also co-wrote and starred in the romantic comedy film The Big Sick. For this movie, he and his wife, Emily V. Gordon, were nominated for an Academy Award.

Kumail Nanjiani has also voiced characters in animated shows like Prismo in Adventure Time. He played Kingo in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) superhero film Eternals. He was also the con artist Haja Estree in the Disney+ miniseries Obi-Wan Kenobi. In 2018, Time magazine called him one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Early life and Education

Kumail Nanjiani grew up in Karachi, Pakistan. He was the first of two sons born to Shabana and Aijaz Nanjiani. He went to school in Karachi before moving to the United States. When he was 18, he moved to the U.S. and attended Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa. He graduated in 2001 with degrees in computer science and philosophy. After college, he moved to Chicago and started performing stand-up comedy at open-mic nights.

Career Highlights

Kumail Nanjiani began his comedy career performing stand-up. In 2007, he created a one-man show about his own life. After moving to New York, he continued doing stand-up. He also appeared on TV shows like The Colbert Report.

In 2011, Kumail started a video game podcast called The Indoor Kids with Ali Baker. Later, his wife, Emily V. Gordon, became his co-host. He also played a delivery man in the 2013 film The Kings of Summer. He had guest roles in comedy shows like Portlandia. He also played Pindar Singh in the series Franklin & Bash.

Voice Acting and Comedy Shows

Kumail Nanjiani voiced Prismo in the animated series Adventure Time. He was also a correspondent on Newsreaders. In 2013, his own comedy special, Beta Male, aired on Comedy Central. He co-hosted The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail with Jonah Ray, which started in 2014.

From 2014 to 2019, he played Dinesh in the HBO sitcom Silicon Valley. He also voiced Reggie in the video game The Walking Dead: Season Two. In 2014, he started a podcast called The X-Files Files. On this podcast, he and guests talked about episodes of the TV show The X-Files.

Major Film Roles

In 2017, Kumail Nanjiani starred in the romantic comedy film The Big Sick. He wrote the movie with his wife, Emily V. Gordon. The film was based on their real-life relationship. Kumail played himself, and Zoe Kazan played Emily. The movie was very popular and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

In 2019, he starred in an episode of The Twilight Zone. He was nominated for an Emmy Award for this role. He also voiced the alien Pawny in Men in Black International and starred in the action comedy film Stuber. In 2020, he voiced Plimpton, an ostrich, in the film Dolittle. He also helped create and produce the Apple TV+ series Little America, which tells stories about immigrants.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Kumail and Emily launched a podcast called Staying In with Emily and Kumail. They shared their experiences living in isolation.

Superhero and Star Wars Roles

Kumail Nanjiani joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Kingo in the film Eternals, released in 2021. He also appeared in the What If...? animated series as Kingo. In 2021, it was announced that he would be in the Obi-Wan Kenobi series for Disney+. He played Haja Estree, a con artist.

In 2022, Kumail starred in the Hulu miniseries Welcome to Chippendales. He played the main role of Somen "Steve" Banerjee, who founded the Chippendales dance troupe. For this role, he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award.

In 2023, he joined the cast of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, which was released in 2024. He played the character Nadeem Razmaadi.

Personal life

Kumail Nanjiani married writer and producer Emily V. Gordon in 2007. They live in Larchmont, Los Angeles. Kumail enjoys playing video games. He supports the Democratic Party. In 2023, he donated money from a show to help Doctors Without Borders.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Awards and nominations

Images for kids

• 

  Nanjiani at South by Southwest, 2019

See also

In Spanish: Kumail Nanjiani para niños