Kumail Nanjiani

Biography

Kumail Nanjiani is a comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter who holds Pakistani and American citizenship and grew up in Karachi before moving to the United States to study at Grinnell College. He began performing stand-up in Chicago and later staged an autobiographical one-man show. His breakthrough came as Dinesh on the HBO series Silicon Valley, and he became known for television roles on Portlandia, Franklin & Bash, Newsreaders, and Obi-Wan Kenobi, as well as voice work as Prismo on Adventure Time. He co-wrote and starred in The Big Sick (2017), which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay, and he played Kingo in Eternals (2021). His other films include Men in Black: International (2019), Stuber (2019), Dolittle (2020), and The Lovebirds (2020). He received a Screen Actors Guild Award and Emmy nominations for The Twilight Zone and Welcome to Chippendales.

48years old

Turns 49 on May 2in 202 days

Born May 2, 1978Karachi
Star sign: TaurusThe sign runs April 20 to May 20
Also credited as Kumail Ali Nanjiani

Movie Career

Films: 37
Career span: 16 years2010 to 2026

Genres

Comedy86%, 32 films
Adventure22%, 8 films
Drama22%, 8 films
Romance19%, 7 films
Action14%, 5 films

First and latest

Photos

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Behind the camera
In 2007, Nanjiani staged a one-man show that he wrote himself, an original autobiographical piece, in Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles.
Behind the camera
Nanjiani hosted The X-Files Files, a weekly podcast where he and guests including former X-Files writers, producers, actors and directors discussed one or two episodes of the series.

Kumail Nanjiani movies on Netflix

The Breadwinner2026IMDb rating 5.6as Peyton
The Wrong Girls2026IMDb rating 5.3as GG (voice)
Conan O'Brien: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor2025IMDb rating 8.0as Self - Speaker
Driver's Ed2025IMDb rating 5.4as Mr. Rivers
Ella McCay2025IMDb rating 5.2as Trooper Nash
Destroy All Neighbors2024IMDb rating 5.3as Smelting Refinery Guard
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire2024IMDb rating 6.1as Nadeem
Migration2023IMDb rating 6.6as Mack Mallard (voice)
ASSEMBLED: The Making of Eternals2022IMDb rating 7.3as Self - Kingo
Obi-Wan Kenobi: A Jedi's Return2022IMDb rating 7.3as Self - Haja Estree
A Night at the Academy Museum2021IMDb rating 7.7as Himself
Eternals2021IMDb rating 6.2as Kingo
Death to 20202020IMDb rating 6.8as Bark Multiverse
Dolittle2020IMDb rating 5.6as Plimpton (voice)
The Lovebirds2020IMDb rating 6.1as Jibran
Men in Black: International2019IMDb rating 5.6as Pawny (voice)
Stuber2019IMDb rating 6.2as Stu
Duck Butter2018IMDb rating 5.2as Jake
Julia Louis-Dreyfus: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize2018IMDb rating 7.8as Himself
Seth Rogen's Hilarity for Charity2018IMDb rating 5.1as Himself
A Happening of Monumental Proportions2017IMDb rating 4.9as Perry
Fist Fight2017IMDb rating 5.6as Mehar
The Big Sick2017IMDb rating 7.5as Kumail Nanjiani
The Lego Ninjago Movie2017IMDb rating 6.1as Jay (voice)
Brother Nature2016IMDb rating 4.9as Riggleman
Central Intelligence2016IMDb rating 6.3as Jared the Airport Security Guard
Flock of Dudes2016IMDb rating 5.2as Ro
Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates2016IMDb rating 6.0as Keanu
The Late Bloomer2016IMDb rating 5.2as Rich
Addicted to Fresno2015IMDb rating 5.5as Damon
Hell and Back2015IMDb rating 5.4as Dave the Demon (voice)
Hello, My Name Is Doris2015IMDb rating 6.6as Nasir
Hot Tub Time Machine 22015IMDb rating 5.0as Brad
Sex Tape2014IMDb rating 5.1as Punit
Bad Milo2013IMDb rating 5.7as Bobbi
Hell Baby2013IMDb rating 5.0as Cable Guy
Life as We Know It2010IMDb rating 6.5as Simon

Best known for

The films on Netflix they are best known for, with the part played in each.

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The Big Sick2017 Comedy, Drama, Romanceas Kumail Nanjiani
IMDb rating 7.5152K votes
Eternals2021 Action, Adventure, Fantasyas Kingo
IMDb rating 6.2437K votes
Men in Black: International2019as Pawnyvoice
IMDb rating 5.6163K votes
Migration2023as Mack Mallardvoice
IMDb rating 6.649K votes
Stuber2019as Stu
IMDb rating 6.255K votes
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire2024as Nadeem
IMDb rating 6.1108K votes
The Lovebirds2020as Jibran
IMDb rating 6.129K votes
Death to 20202020as Bark Multiverse
IMDb rating 6.841K votes

Most often with

Michael Showalter directed three of these films. Six actors appear in three of them each. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.

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Stephen Root

Fred Armisen

Keegan-Michael Key

Rob Corddry

Gillian Jacobs

Marc Maron

Michael ShowalterDirector, 3 films

Films together

Stephen Root3 films together, 2013 to 2016
Stephen Root's page
- Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates2016IMDb rating 6.0Nanjiani as KeanuRoot as Burt
- Hello, My Name Is Doris2015IMDb rating 6.6Nanjiani as NasirRoot as Todd
- Bad Milo2013IMDb rating 5.7Nanjiani as BobbiRoot as Roger
Fred Armisen3 films together, 2015 to 2025
Fred Armisen's page
- Conan O'Brien: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor2025IMDb rating 8.0Nanjiani as Self - SpeakerArmisen as Henfield Horgan - Harvard University, Dean of Students
- The Lego Ninjago Movie2017IMDb rating 6.1Nanjiani as JayvoiceArmisen as Colevoice
- Addicted to Fresno2015IMDb rating 5.5Nanjiani as DamonArmisen as Gerald
Keegan-Michael Key3 films together, 2013 to 2023
Keegan-Michael Key's page
- Migration2023IMDb rating 6.6Nanjiani as Mack MallardvoiceKey as Delroyvoice
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize2018IMDb rating 7.8Nanjiani as HimselfKey as Himself
- Hell Baby2013IMDb rating 5.0Nanjiani as Cable GuyKey as F'resnel
Rob Corddry3 films together, 2013 to 2015
Rob Corddry's page
- Hot Tub Time Machine 22015IMDb rating 5.0Nanjiani as BradCorddry as Lou
- Sex Tape2014IMDb rating 5.1Nanjiani as PunitCorddry as Robby
- Hell Baby2013IMDb rating 5.0Nanjiani as Cable GuyCorddry as Jack
Gillian Jacobs3 films together, 2013 to 2016
Gillian Jacobs's page
- Brother Nature2016IMDb rating 4.9Nanjiani as RigglemanJacobs as Gwen Turley
- Hot Tub Time Machine 22015IMDb rating 5.0Nanjiani as BradJacobs as Jill
- Bad Milo2013IMDb rating 5.7Nanjiani as BobbiJacobs as Sarah
Marc Maron3 films together, 2016 to 2018
Marc Maron's page
- Duck Butter2018IMDb rating 5.2Nanjiani as JakeMaron as Marcvoice
- Flock of Dudes2016IMDb rating 5.2Nanjiani as RoMaron as Richtman
- Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates2016IMDb rating 6.0Nanjiani as KeanuMaron as Randy
Michael ShowalterDirector, 3 films, 2015 to 2020
All films by Michael Showalter
- The Lovebirds2020IMDb rating 6.1Nanjiani as Jibran
- The Big Sick2017IMDb rating 7.5Nanjiani as Kumail Nanjiani
- Hello, My Name Is Doris2015IMDb rating 6.6Nanjiani as Nasir

Box office

What Kumail Nanjiani's films earned in cinemas worldwide.

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Combined worldwide box office

$2.3 billion

20 of the 37 films have a worldwide figure.

20Worldwide figure
3US gross only
7Never in cinemas
7Figure not found

Top grosser

Eternals2021Kingo$402 million

Highest grossing

The eight biggest films earned 82% of the total. The bars are drawn to scale.

1
Eternals2021as Kingo
$402M17.5% of the total
2
Migration2023as Mack Mallard (voice)
$299M13.0% of the total
3
Men in Black: International2019as Pawny (voice)
$254M11.1% of the total
4
Dolittle2020as Plimpton (voice)
$251M11.0% of the total
5
Central Intelligence2016as Jared the Airport Security Guard
$217M9.5% of the total
6
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire2024as Nadeem
$202M8.8% of the total
7
Sex Tape2014as Punit
$126M5.5% of the total
8
The Lego Ninjago Movie2017as Jay (voice)
$123M5.4% of the total