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Kumail Nanjiani

Highest Rated: 98% The Big Sick (2017)

Lowest Rated: 14% Hot Tub Time Machine 2 (2015)

Birthday: Feb 21, 1978

Birthplace: Karachi, Pakistan

A comedic jack of all trades, Kumail Nanjiani never forgot his Pakistani roots even while riffing on the all-American life he had created for himself. He wrote for some of the hippest and most ground-breaking TV comedies of his era, and still found time to co-host a podcast about the nerd world of video games while putting together a weekly live show that helped put Los Angeles back on the map of stand-up. Born in Karachi, Pakistan in 1978, Nanjiani moved to Iowa with his family when he was 18. In college, he first discovered stand-up by listening to his uncle's tapes of comedy acts, and he became obsessed. By his junior year in college he began doing his own stand-up routines. His major in computer sciences, gave him a solid nerd-culture base for his act as he drifted slowly into the comedy world of New York City. He worked briefly as a writer on "Saturday Night Live" (NBC 1975- ), but his work on the short-lived sketch program "Michael and Michael Have Issues" (Comedy Central 2009) gave him his first taste of acting. The producers wanted the writers to also have bit parts on the show, and Nanjiani discovered that the acting informed his writing, and the writing improved his acting. Along with his burgeoning stand-up career, Nanjiani had small roles in the films "Life As We Know It" (2010) and "The Five Year Engagement" (2012). During this era, Nanjiani moved from New York to Los Angeles, where podcast impresario Chris Hardwick invited him to create a show about comic books. Since he knew video games much better, he convinced Hardwick to center the show on video game obsessions. The podcast, The Indoor Kids, was co-hosted by Nanjiani's wife, comic and writer Emily V. Gordon. As if the television appearances, movies and podcasts weren't enough, Nanjiani also started co-hosting a weekly stand-up show in the back room of a Los Angeles comic book store called The Meltdown alongside fellow comic Jonah Ray. The show, which featured rising and known comics doing new, improvisational and experimental material, was so successful that in 2014 Comedy Central signed it up to become one of the network's live comedy showcases; the shows ended in 2016 when the pair's other duties began taking too much of their time. Nanjiani also continued to act, appearing regularly as various characters on Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein's offbeat comedy series "Portlandia" (IFC 2011- ) and taking on a co-starring role in Mike Judge's satirical series "Silicon Valley" (HBO 2014- ). Nanjiani and Gordon branched into screenwriting with "The Big Sick" (2017), an autobiographical comedy about their courtship that starred Nanjiani as himself and Zoe Kazan as Emily.

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Highest rated movies

98% 88% The Big Sick Watchlist 88% 62% Poop Talk Watchlist 73% 87% Migration Watchlist 66% 51% The Lovebirds Watchlist
59% 41% Milo
Watchlist
57% 28% Brother Nature Watchlist 56% 46% The LEGO NINJAGO Movie Watchlist 55% 41% Duck Butter Watchlist 47% 77% Eternals Watchlist 45% 60% Death to 2020 Watchlist

Filmography

Movies

Credit
42% 82% Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Unknown (Character) $112.7M 2024
73% 87% Migration Mack (Voice) $127.3M 2023
47% 77% Eternals Kingo (Character) $164.9M 2021
45% 60% Death to 2020 Unknown (Character) - 2020
66% 51% The Lovebirds Jibran (Character),
Executive Producer
- 2020
15% 76% Dolittle Plimpton (Voice) $77.0M 2020
43% 79% Stuber Stu (Character) $22.4M 2019
23% 66% Men in Black: International Pawny (Voice) $80.0M 2019
55% 41% Duck Butter Jake (Character) $6.3K 2018
88% 62% Poop Talk Self - 2017
56% 46% The LEGO NINJAGO Movie Jay (Voice) $59.3M 2017
98% 88% The Big Sick Kumail (Character),
Screenwriter,
Executive Producer
$42.9M 2017
25% 40% Fist Fight Mehar (Character) $32.2M 2017
22% 23% The Late Bloomer Rich (Character) - 2016
36% 47% Flock of Dudes Ro (Character) - 2016
57% 28% Brother Nature Riggleman (Character) - 2016
38% 51% Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates Keanu (Character) $46.0M 2016
32% 32% Addicted to Fresno Damon (Character) - 2015
No Score Yet No Score Yet Loaded Raza (Character) - 2015
14% 26% Hot Tub Time Machine 2 Brad (Character) $12.3M 2015
No Score Yet No Score Yet Burning Love 3: Burning Down the House Unknown (Character) - 2014
No Score Yet 89% Burning Love 2 Zakir (Character) - 2014
16% 33% Sex Tape Punit (Character) $38.5M 2014
59% 41% Milo Bobbi (Character) - 2013
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Arrangement Alfred Dalton (Character) - 2013
30% 61% Life as We Know It Simon (Character) $53.4M 2010

TV

Credit
97% 89% Only Murders in the Building Unknown (Guest Star) 2024
No Score Yet 42% Jimmy Kimmel Live! Guest 2009 2016-2017 2019-2024
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Jennifer Hudson Show Guest 2023-2024
86% No Score Yet Project Greenlight: A New Generation Executive Producer,
Host
2023
71% 67% Welcome to Chippendales Somen "Steve" Banerjee (Character),
Executive Producer
2022-2023
No Score Yet No Score Yet 20/20 Self 2022
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Talk Guest 2022
No Score Yet 18% The Late Late Show With James Corden Guest 2015-2018 2020 2022
97% 85% Little America Executive Producer,
Writer
2020 2022
No Score Yet 50% The Late Show With Stephen Colbert Guest 2016-2017 2020 2022
No Score Yet 55% The Kelly Clarkson Show Guest,
Host
2022
No Score Yet 12% The View Guest 2017 2022
No Score Yet 61% Late Night With Seth Meyers Guest 2014-2015 2017 2020-2022
82% 61% Obi-Wan Kenobi Haja (Character) 2022
85% 76% The Simpsons Theo (Guest Voice) 2022
97% 71% The Boys Presents: Diabolical Vik (Character) 2022
74% 77% Murderville Unknown (Guest Star) 2022
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Ellen DeGeneres Show Guest 2018-2021
No Score Yet 44% The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Guest 2017 2021
82% 62% Bless the Harts Jesus (Guest Voice),
Unknown (Voice),
Unknown (Guest Star)
2019-2021
No Score Yet No Score Yet Close Up With The Hollywood Reporter Guest 2017 2020
No Score Yet No Score Yet Conan Guest 2011-2020
94% 93% Silicon Valley Dinesh (Character) 2014-2019
No Score Yet 79% Good Talk With Anthony Jeselnik Guest 2019
No Score Yet No Score Yet Hot Ones Guest 2019
No Score Yet No Score Yet Desus & Mero Guest 2019
No Score Yet No Score Yet Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen Guest 2017 2019
67% 44% The Twilight Zone Samir Wassan (Character) 2019
94% 81% Portlandia Unknown (Guest Star) 2011-2018
No Score Yet No Score Yet Variety Studio: Actors on Actors Guest 2018
No Score Yet 57% Saturday Night Live Host 2017
No Score Yet No Score Yet Harry Guest 2017
No Score Yet 88% At Midnight With Chris Hardwick Guest 2017
41% 61% Chelsea Guest 2017
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Meltdown With Jonah and Kumail Executive Producer,
Host
2014-2016
No Score Yet 89% Bob's Burgers Skip (Guest Voice) 2014 2016
74% 86% The X-Files Pasha (Guest Star) 2016
100% 94% Adventure Time Prismo (Guest Voice) 2012 2014-2016
No Score Yet 81% Last Week Tonight With John Oliver Himself (Guest Star) 2015
88% 88% Community Lapari (Guest Star) 2014-2015
91% 84% Archer Farooq Ashkani (Guest Voice) 2015
99% 87% Broad City Benny Calitri (Guest Star) 2015
61% 84% Franklin & Bash Pindar Singh (Character),
Unknown (Guest Star)
2011-2014
100% 90% Garfunkel and Oates Unknown (Guest Star) 2014
No Score Yet No Score Yet Larry King Now Guest 2014
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Pete Holmes Show Guest 2013-2014
No Score Yet No Score Yet Funny as Hell Unknown (Character) 2014
No Score Yet 80% King of the Nerds Unknown (Guest Star) 2014
No Score Yet 81% Drunk History Unknown (Guest Star) 2013
93% 90% Veep Statistician (Guest Star) 2013
67% No Score Yet Traffic Light Unknown (Guest Star) 2011
No Score Yet No Score Yet John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show Unknown (Character) 2011
No Score Yet No Score Yet Late Night With Jimmy Fallon Guest 2010