You have to admire how actors manage not to become self-conscious working on superhero movies, where they’re clad in either a motion capture leotard or a skintight costume, waving their arms around pretending to weaponize fantastical powers when they’re standing in front of a green screen in a cavernous and almost empty sound stage.
The climactic battle in Avengers: Endgame is spectacular and epic in execution, but the behind-the-scenes images are nothing short of hilarious when you see everyone running around pretending to save the universe. Spare a thought for poor Kumail Nanjiani, then, who revealed during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live that Eternals director Chloé Zhao told him Kingo’s superpowers would be manifested by pointing finger guns.
“I got to work, and I was like, ‘So, how do I shoot?’ And she, Chloé, was like, ‘Finger guns!’ I was like, ‘Chloé, that’s so goofy,’ and she’s like, ‘No, it’s gotta be finger guns.’ She’s like, ‘I promise it’ll look cool,’ and so I felt stupid for six months doing this every day, and then it looks pretty cool!”
Good thing Nanjiani got jacked for the movie when he was kept busy shooting finger guns when he wasn’t participating in elaborate Bollywood song-and-dance numbers. He may have felt like an idiot when there wasn’t much to react to, but there’s every chance Kingo is going to be one of Eternals‘ many breakout performers.
The buzz for the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s 26th installment is getting closer and closer to fever pitch, and the actor won’t be feeling stupid when the first weekend box office numbers come in.
