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'I Do Have Trauma From It': Kumail Nanjiani Reveals Negative Reviews Of Marvel's Eternals Took A Toll On His Mental Health
Actor Kumail Nanjiani appeared on an episode of Inside Of You with Michael Rosenbaum and talked about how all the negative reviews of Marvel’s Eternals took a toll on his mental wellbeing.
When Marvel’s Eternals came out in 2021 with its star-studded cast, there were a lot of expectations from it. However, it failed to perform well with the fans and ended up as one of the worst-reviewed Marvel movies till date. Kumail Nanjiani appeared on Michael Rosenbaum’s podcast and opened up about how he read all the bad reviews and how they negatively impacted his mental health.
What did Kumail Say about the film and its effects?
“I was reading every review and checking too much.” Kumail said on the podcast about the aftereffects of Eternals. The movie had one of the most heavily-starred Marvel movies of all time with heavyweights like Gemma Chan, Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Kit Harrington, Barry Keoghan, Richard Madden, and of course Nanjiani, who played the role of Kingo. Even though it was directed by Chloé Zhao, who won Best Picture and Best Director Academy Awards for her 2020 film Nomadland, Eternals failed to leave a positive impact on the fans.
Kumail said that it was even harder because Marvel had thought that the film was going to perform really well. “They lifted the embargo early and put it in some fancy movie festivals and they sent us on a big global tour to promote the movie right as the embargo lifted,” The actor said. 
According to Nanjiani, the harsh criticisms took place right after the height of the pandemic as the press circuit occurred during that time, and thus everything felt more “heightened”. He does think that the poor reviews were partially due to the situation and they were less about the quality of the film. However, as he was getting too deep into the criticisms, he realized that it was unfair to both him and his wife Emily, so he started counseling. “I still talk to my therapist about that,” as it still continues to affect his life to some degree.
How did Nanjiani address his mental health issues?
Even without Eternals, Nanjiani said that he suffers from anxiety. The stress of his job as an actor and a comedian increased during the SAG-AFTRA strike. But the actor worked through most of the issues through therapy, meditation, and with the help of his wife. But he also said that anxiety never really goes away. “Anxiety comes back, you need to know how to see it, understand it, and deal with it,” the actor said.
Nanjiani said that he and his wife recently got dinner with someone from the movie and talked about how hard it was for everyone during that time. “Emily says that I do have trauma from it,” the actor said, talking about his wife.
Nanjiani said he has gotten better at dealing with his mental health issues now as he realized that when he is relaxed, he is better at his job as an actor and a comedian. But most importantly, he is a better husband for his wife. This was helped by the realization that he can only work and control his performance, but he can never control the reaction people have to his work, and he will have to deal with the criticisms as they come and not let them get to him. Currently Nanjiani is working on his next film Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire in which he stars alongside Paul Rudd, Finn Wolfhard, and Bill Murray.
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