‘The Big Sick’ Star Kumail Nanjiani’s New Reason to See ‘Last Jedi’ is a Sweet Story About Director Rian Johnson
The star and writer of “The Big Sick” Kumail Nanjiani took to Twitter on Tuesday morning to share a humble and unforgettable encounter he had with director Rian Johnson, whose film “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” will rule the box office this coming weekend. This encounter happened in 2012, before Nanjiani starred in HBO’s “Silicon Valley,” when he was doing interviews on a San Diego Comic-Con red carpet.
Najiani details in his 12-tweet thread how stressful the job was for him to do interviews on a red carpet, a situation only made worse by an interviewee who was extremely rude to him and made a mockery of him.
After that unfortunate encounter, Nanjiani went to the “Total Recall” and “Looper” red carpet and saw that Johnson was one of the people he was interviewing. Never leaving his comedic charm aside, Nanjiani recounts how the situation could have gone so much worse when he told Johnson (who was there for “Looper”) that he “can’t wait to see the remake of ‘Total Recall’” he was directing. “It was one of those stupid brain things,” Nanjiani said.
Related:Inside the ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ World Premiere: Hollywood Celebrates Rian Johnson’s Movie
Instead of dismissing him on that red carpet, Johnson responded, “I wish! I did ‘Looper.’” After seeing how Nanjiani was upset by the mix-up, Johnson laughed at the situation without mocking him for his mistake, and he put his hand on Najiani’s shoulder. “He truly went out of his way to make me feel ok, to make me not feel like a loser,” Nanjiani said.
Read the entire Twitter thread below:
THREAD: I know y'all don't need another reason to see Star Wars: The Last Jedi, but I'm gonna give you one more. This is a story about its director, @rianjohnson, & why he's awesome. In 2012, before Silicon Valley, I got a job doing interviews on the red carpet at Comic Con.
— Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) December 12, 2017
Btw, I completely get the disinterested part. They'd been doing press all day & I was 1 of like a 100 interviews they had that day. I get it. The job was tough cuz sometimes I'd only get 40 secs w someone & had to give my producers something usable, otherwise it was a total bust.
— Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) December 12, 2017
After that awful encounter, we run across to the red carpet for Looper/Total Recall. Still upset by the encounter. They hand me the list of ppl walking down the carpet that I'll be interviewing. After a couple of people, Rian walks up. I love his work, I'm a huge fan of his.
— Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) December 12, 2017
I'm like "Dammit. I messed up another interview & look like a fool in front of someone I'm a huge fan of." But, instead of being upset, he started laughing. Not in an "at me" way. In a "with me" way. He saw how upset I was, put his hand on my shoulder, laughing.
— Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) December 12, 2017
It truly meant so much to me in that moment, on that specific day. Especially right after someone w a millionth of his talent had dressed me down for no reason. I got the interview, finished out the worst Comic Con I've ever had & went home.
— Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) December 12, 2017
Anyway, cut to years later. I'm at a friend's party, & Rian Johnson is there. Someone introduces us, he says he loves Silicon Valley, we talk for about 10 mins & I go "I'm about to blow your mind." Cuz I knew he would remember!
— Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) December 12, 2017
I told him how much his kindness meant to me. He said it was no big deal. But it was a big deal to me. You can tell a lot about someone by how they are to ppl they don't have to be nice to. He didn't have to be nice. I was just some scrub who'd gotten his film wrong. But he was.
— Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) December 12, 2017
Anyway, that's reason 4,908,786 to go see Star Wars: The Last Jedi on opening weekend. I know I'll be there. THE END
— Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) December 12, 2017
Also, Nanjiani and Johnson had a quite funny tweet exchange Monday night in which “The Last Jedi” was brought up, but also a subtle acknowledgment that the Golden Globes snubbed “The Big Sick”:
Ok this is Kumail tweeting from Rian’s phone- Steven Spielberg stole my phone, he fake-handed it back to me then ran off. If anyone has eyes on Steven Spielberg please tell him I’m not mad I just want my phone back it has wedding pictures on it. Also go see the last jedi on 12/15
— Rian Johnson (@rianjohnson) December 11, 2017
Kumail this is Rian tweeting from my own phone not pretending to be anybody telling you The Big Sick is brilliant and in my heart you have all the awards. Which, physically, is not comfortable. Expecially the Emmy.
— Rian Johnson (@rianjohnson) December 11, 2017
Thank you Rian. You are a great person and a wonderful director. I can't wait to see your movie, but more importantly, I hope to see you in person soon.
Yours sincerely,
not Steven Spielberg— Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) December 11, 2017
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” opens in theaters this Thursday, Dec. 15.
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