With the release of Marvel’s Eternals this past weekend, we’re getting more and more insights into the creative process of some of its actors.
In addition to discussing his character’s motivation in a recent podcast, actor and comedian Kmail Nanjiani took to Twitter Thursday to give a behind the scenes look at how he prepared for the role of Kingo, one of 10 immortal Eternals created by the god-like and planet-sized Celestials tasked with protecting humankind from the predatory alien threat, The Deviants.
Kingo and the other Eternals live out their long lives on Earth for 7,000 years, becoming free to explore their own interests after initially defeating the last of the Deviants some half a millennium or so ago from the present day. During that time, Kingo decides to become a Bollywood movie star and then pretends to be that star’s son, then grandson as the 20th century progresses and he remains ageless.
According to Nanjiani’s Twitter, he was so dedicated to the role that he really grew out the facial hair that appears on the antique movie posters of the character’s “grandfather.”
“I actually grew my beard out and slowly shaved it over the course of the day while doing these photo shoots,” he explained.
And in a twist that’s either hilarious or an illustration of his commitment to method acting, it turns out the prop movie posters ended up being hand-painted at any rate, meaning an artist could’ve easily and convincingly added a mustache in or the actor could’ve just worn fake facial hair, and none would be the wiser.
We can’t say we’re surprised at Nanjiani’s decision, since the actor got famously ripped for the role but never so much as peeled back his outermost layer of clothing in the entirety of the movie’s runtime.
Check out Nanjiani’s next-level thespian commitment in Eternals, now playing in theaters.