‘Eternals’ Actor Said Hollywood Won’t ‘Cast Non-White People As Bad Guys’ Despite His Desire To Play A Villain

“Eternals” Actor Kumail Nanjiani said he’d like to star in more villain roles but was told studios refuse to cast non-white actors into those parts. 

“I think that Hollywood now — even though they’re trying to be more diverse — is still weird,” The star, 44 years old, told Esquire U.K. During a recent interview. 

Nanjiani then stated that while it was well-intentioned, restricting certain races playing these roles is hindering those actors Hollywood studios claim to want to help.

“And that’s just as limiting as anything else,” The “Silicon Valley” Actor said. “I want to play more bad guys.” 

He also mentioned Sebastian Stan who is most well-known for his role as Bucky Barnes/Winter Solider in Marvel’s superhero Marvel. Stan is also a cannibal for the 2022 horror movie. “Fresh.”

“He does these big Marvel movies, and then he’ll play a psychopath,” Nanjiani observed. “I was told that’s going to be hard because people don’t want to cast non-white people as bad guys.”

Meanwhile, the actor said he doesn’t believe he would have been cast as Somen “Steve” Banerjee at the Hulu Limited Series “Welcome to Chippendales” if it hadn’t been based on a true story. Esquire asked him if he believed the role, which was based on an Indian immigrant, would have been played by a white actor.

Nanjiani previously discussed The Hollywood Reporter explains the role in greater detail. He also expressed his desire to portray a villain. 

“I’ve never gotten the opportunity to play a character like this, who has such a big arc and a descent into darkness. I’ve always [wanted to play] the bad guy — I don’t mean just guys who were kind of sh**y; I mean a bad bad guy,” He stated.

“The story itself was so exciting and unexpected,” He spoke of the Chippendales’ retrospective.

“There are, like, 20 unbelievable things that happen in the course of our show, and that all happened in real life,” He went on. “And it had interesting stuff to say about the American dream and how accessible it is to different kinds of people, and to see that through the lens of an immigrant.”

“I’m an immigrant, and I had a certain idea of the American dream before coming here. And now, obviously, that’s evolved. To be able to explore that through the eyes of someone who, in some ways, had a similar experience to me is rare,” The actor stated.