If you’re going to play a super-powered humanoid being with near-immortality, it helps to look the part. Actor Kumail Nanjiani did just that. At this point we’ve all seen how shredded the Stuber and Silicon Valley actor got to play Kingo in the MCU’s Phase 4 film Eternals. Now we know part of how he did it, because a new video has revealed Kumail Nanjiani’s intense Eternals workout. Check it out:
The Eternals received a massive genetic assist from the Celestials to look the way they do and have their abilities, but the rest of us have to work for it, including actor Kumail Nanjiani. This video from TMZ gives us a sample of the intense workouts the actor went through in order to attain the physique that broke the internet and completely changed our perceptions of an actor who is known for playing the kind of characters that don’t usually have six-packs.
Although this is certainly only a small portion of Kumail Nanjiani’s Eternals training program, as you can see above, he wasn’t necessarily doing anything fancy. These aren’t Olympic lifts or compound exercises. The first exercise looks like a cable lower chest raise, which is isolating his chest and also working his shoulders that looked so well-defined in his widely circulated Instagram post.
After that you see Kumail Nanjiani using a machine to work on his biceps and back. It may not look special, but if you see the weight on that stack, he’s clearly working out hard and putting a lot of effort into achieving the desired result. And that’s what we’ve heard from his personal trainer, that Kumail Nanjiani “drank the Kool-Aid” and really committed to the process.
He’s not just going through the motions, every rep is a real effort and you can see it on his face. Kumail Nanjiani isn’t wearing lifting gloves either. He’s earning his calluses.
Now of course, Kumail Nanjiani himself has noted that he was only able to achieve what he did thanks to having the resources of time and money at his disposal. It was his job to get into the shape he did. But, at least here, he was also working out on machines that you can find at most gyms, so an approximation of an Eternal-like physique may not be so out of reach.
In addition, having some musical motivation is always helpful. While to my knowledge Kumail Nanjiani has yet to release his workout playlist, he’s got a little Kendrick Lamar playing in the background here to help power him through.
Kumail Nanjiani will need to be in great shape as Kingo, who along with the rest of the Eternals will face off with the Deviants in Marvel’s weird and risky Phase Four film. Eternals opens in theaters on November 6, 2020. That’s just one of a slew of exciting films headed to theaters next year. Check them all out with CinemaBlend's 2020 release schedule.
