Kumail Nanjiani

Originally born in Karachi, Pakistan, Kumail Nanjiani moved to the US in the mid-1990s when he was 18 to attend school at Grinnell College. When he came to the US, he started watching comedians on television, particularly David Letterman and Jerry Seinfeld. After seeing a classmate of his perform stand-up comedy in college, Nanjiani decided to try his hand at it.

After graduating, Nanjiani moved to Chicago, performing stand-up and eventually getting spots on "The Late Show with David Letterman," and Conan O’Brien’s late-night program on TBS. Subsequently, Nanjiani landed staff writing gigs on hit comedy shows like "The Colbert Report."

In 2009, the Comedy Channel named Nanjiani as one of the year’s breakout comedians, alongside fellow desi comedian Aziz Ansari, for whom Nanjiani has opened at various stand-up comedy venues. Since then, Nanjiani has gone on to feature in increasingly bigger roles on both television and film, usually in guest roles. He featured in HBO’s hit comedy "Veep," starring Seinfeld co-star Julia Louis-Dreyfus as the US Vice-President. In late June 2013, Comedy Central announced the pickup of a show, "The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail," hosted by Jonah Ray and Nanjiani. The show, featuring Nerd Melt comedy regulars and various comedians, began airing in July 2014. In "Silicon Valley," Nanjiani played one of five characters who come up with an idea for an IT product and start a company. He also lent his voice to the animated series "Adventure Time" as Prismo.

In 2017, Nanjiani wrote the semi-autobiographical romantic comedy film "The Big Sick" with his wife Emily V. Gordon. The couple was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay at the 90th Academy Awards. Nanjiani also starred in the film. He was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine the following year.

In 2019, Najiani headlined the first episode of the CBS All Access revival of the anthology series "The Twilight Zone." For his role, Nanjiani received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series. That same year, he starred in the lead role of the Hulu miniseries "Welcome to Chippendales" and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie category for his work.

In March 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Nanjiani and his wife, Emily Gordon, launched a podcast, "Staying In with Emily and Kumail." The series chronicles their experiences as a couple forced to live in isolation during the global pandemic. The podcast has been widely acclaimed in the media, as a welcome respite during a period of high anxiety.

Nanjiani wrote for and produced the Apple TV+ anthology series "Little America," which premiered in January 2020. In 2021, he starred as Kingo in the Marvel Studios film "Eternals."