Kumail Nanjiani: From international student to Hollywood star

• Kumail Nanjiani was born and raised in Karachi, Pakistan.
• He moved to the US at 19 on a student visa and enrolled at Grinnell College.
• He says he experienced culture shock when he moved to America for the first time.

Kumail Nanjiani was born and bred in Pakistan. In fact, his story closely shadows that of an international student.

Hollywood has undergone significant upheaval in the last ten years. The entertainment sector, which is predominantly dominated by the American sphere, has made incremental but important attempts to become more inclusive, including expanding opportunities for women and opening up more space for international views.

A large part of this is accomplished through casting non-white actors in greater roles, such as actor Kumail Nanjiani. After starting out as a stand-up comedian in Chicago, Kumail Nanjiani has subsequently achieved remarkable success in Hollywood and has been cast in significant roles in two well-known franchises. He most recently appeared in the eagerly anticipated Star Wars series “Obi-Wan Kenobi” and Marvel’s “Eternals.”

It’s undoubtedly a noteworthy achievement for an actor who was raised outside of the US. Since moving away from his homeland of Karachi to pursue an education in the United States, the Pakistani actor has come a long way. He overcame visa obstacles and racial preconceptions while pursuing a career that, at the time, appeared to be nearly unattainable.

Such tales as Nanjiani’s are unusual for Hollywood. The majority of well-known non-white actors are either dual citizens or first-generation immigrants who were born in the US.

Kumail Nanjiani, in contrast, was raised in Pakistan. His experience closely resembles that of an international student; he finished his A Levels in Karachi and arrived in the US for the first time at the age of 19 on a student visa.

Nanjiani decided to enrol in Grinnell College in Iowa, which he claims was mostly driven by the promise of a low-key, tranquil college experience.

“I was in Pakistan. I didn’t really have a good sense of what different places were like,” he shared in an interview for the school magazine. “And I liked the website, I liked what they offered, and they were ranked really well, and I’d heard really good things. So that’s kind of why I picked it. I didn’t really know what it was going to be like.”

Nanjiani double-majored in computer science and psychology, but he had previously expressed a desire to attend a liberal arts college. It can be presumed that Nanjiani wanted to attend a college that was more intimate, well-rounded, and encouraged creativity — qualities that liberal arts universities are famed for — even though he did not specifically state what motivated his choice.

Kumail Nanjiani experienced culture shock just like many other international students who are studying abroad for the first time. In fact, he claims that entering an American university, particularly Grinnell, left him “totally unprepared.”

“At the time, I only knew America from TV shows and movies, where they generally only show New York and Los Angeles,” he told Grinnell graduates in a commencement speech. “I landed in Des Moines and thought, this is less cosmopolitan than I was led to believe America would be. That’s okay. They have some buildings. Then I got to Grinnell. And you definitely do not see places like this in the movies.”

Nanjiani spent his first few weeks feeling out of place, describing them as “pretty tough” at first. “I was a very shy kid, I missed home, and I felt like I didn’t fit in,” he said.

He talks of starting out at Grinnell by making calls home to his parents from the phone room on his floor. But soon after, Nanjiani started to grow outside the confines of his dorm room. He started to interact with his college buddies and go to gatherings, where he made a lot of enduring friendships.

“I met people from all over the world,” he shared. “I met people who were white, black, queer, gender-fluid, every religion, no religion. And that was exciting. Pakistan ultimately is not that diverse, and I was meeting so many different kinds of people. And people were curious about me!”

Kumail Nanjiani’s decision to pursue his education abroad had a profound impact on his life because it was there that he fell in love with comedy.

“I was figuring out who I was, I still didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life,” he told Grinnell’s Class of 2017. “And then in my senior year, I performed stand-up comedy for the first time at Bob’s Underground. And it went well! It was so fun, and it was so exciting. And I was like, I could be good at this!”

Nanjiani was certain that he wanted to work in comedy. He had a major obstacle to overcome, though: how to get a work visa.

Also Read

Tom Cruise beams with joy as he meets with Red Arrows

Tom Cruise surprised attendees at the Royal International Air Tattoo in Gloucestershire....

“It’s very tricky because you basically have to prove that nobody else who’s American can do this job,” he said in a podcast. “And what we do is so amorphous and vague and hard to curate.”

To overcome this, Nanjiani accepted a job in Chicago as a computer scientist and gained an H-1B visa. He spent his nights performing stand-up shows in local comedy clubs. “I probably slept about four hours a night for five years straight,” he said. “And I had the best time of my life.”

Emily V. Gordon, the future wife of Kumail Nanjiani, was first introduced to him at a comedy club. Their new partnership had its share of difficulties, most of which were brought on by their cultural differences. Nanjiani was worried about meeting someone who didn’t fit into his parents’ ideal of a marriage because he comes from a traditionally conservative Pakistani family.

They eventually succeeded in putting aside their differences and creating a life together. Nanjiani started his acting career after applying for and receiving a green card, which he claims took 15 years. The Big Sick,” a critically praised movie about an interracial couple negotiating love and life in the US, was produced by Nanjiani and his wife.

While Nanjiani has achieved huge levels of success since graduating, he ultimately says it was his time at Grinnell that truly changed the trajectory of his life. “This little liberal arts college in the middle of Iowa changed the way I saw the entire world,” he shared.

His advice to international students? “Populate your life with people different from you.”

Also Read

Stacey Solomon hints at her upcoming wedding date

Stacey's wedding to Joe Swash is reportedly happening later this month. She...

“Once you leave school, you get to choose the kinds of people you’re going to be around rather than just being forced to be around them,” he said. “So I encourage you to seek out people, thoughts, and opinions different from yours. It keeps you empathetic, and it gets you out of your own echo chamber. Don’t disregard opposing viewpoints. Listen to them, absorb them, oppose them if you feel that they are wrong, but allow them to affect you.”