Kumail Nanjiani Needed Therapy After ‘Eternals’ Flop
Kumail Nanjiani’s Marvel Cinematic Universe debut took a toll on his mental health after the Eternals received negative reviews. In a new interview, the actor, who played Kingo in the 2021 film, allowed the critiques to consume him. Though he knew it wasn’t his fault, the hype building up to the movie following the pandemic ended up working against the Chloé Zhao-directed film. He added that he loved the movie and was proud of everyone’s work. The Silicon Valley alum even watched it multiple times because it’s “my kind of movie.” Nanjiani even admitted he doesn’t typically watch things he’s starred in.
Set Up For Failure
Claiming Marvel was so confident the film would be well-reviewed, they lifted the embargo early and submitted it to “fancy movie festivals.” Sending the star-studded cast consisting of Barry Keoghan, Angelina Jolie, Kit Harrington, Salma Hayek, Brian Tyree Henry, Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, and Ma Dong-seok on a global press tour while the negative reviews were coming out, Nanjiani said, “I was too aware of it. I was reading every review and checking too much.” With a rating of 47% on Rotten Tomatoes and a better one with IMDb‘s 6.3/10, the superhero epic is one of MCU’s worst-reviewed films to date. 2023’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was ranked the worst, with Eternals narrowly taking second place. Third was 2023’s The Marvels, which was better received by audiences than critics.
Following the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the comedian and actor said there was some “weird soup in the atmosphere for why that movie got slammed so much.” Proclaiming that he doesn’t believe the quality of the movie is what garnered the bad reviews, Nanjiani said he struggled so much. Realizing he can’t handle that kind of emotional burden and stress, the Big Sick writer and star started seeing a therapist. He admitted he still talks about the effects of the Eternals in therapy. Bonding with a fellow Eternals actor about the trauma they endured, Nanjiani realized he couldn’t be so results-based in his work anymore, and it is all out of his control.
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