Best Of: Kumail Nanjiani / 'Knives Out' Writer/Director Rian Johnson

Fresh Air

NPR

Books, Society & Culture, Arts, Tv & Film

4.3 • 36.1K Ratings

🗓️ 17 December 2022

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Kumail Nanjiani plays Somen "Steve" Banerjee, founder of the male strip club Chippendales, in a new Hulu series. Banerjee was ultimately undone by his own corrupt business practices. We talk about the challenge of playing an un-funny person and how his childhood in Pakistan informs his comedy.

Justin Chang reviews new iterations of Matilda and Pinnochio on Netflix.

Glass Onion, Rian Johnson's sequel to Knives Out, centers on a billionaire who's invited an assortment of so-called "disrupters" to his private island for a long weekend getaway to play out a murder mystery game. The writer/director talks about satirizing tech moguls and influencers and the murder mysteries that inspired him.

Transcript

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0:00.0	From WHY Wine Philadelphia, this is Fresh Air Weekend.
0:05.0	I'm Sam Brigger in For Terry Gross.
0:08.0	Today, comic actor and screenwriter Camille Nanjani talks about starring in the HBO Hulu
0:13.0	series, Welcome to Chip and Dales.
0:16.0	Nanjani co-starred in the comedy series Silicon Valley, co-wrote and starred in the film The
0:21.0	Big Sick, and was the first South Asian to play a Marvel superhero.
0:25.0	Also, we'll hear from filmmaker Ryan Johnson. His new movie is a sequel to his popular comedic
0:30.6	murder mystery comedy Knives Out. It's called Glass Onion, and in it Daniel Craig returns
0:36.0	as the Southern Gentleman detective, Benoit Blanc.
0:39.0	You will find me a respectful, quiet, passive observer of the truth.
0:48.0	And Justin Chang reviews two new movies based on well-known children's stories. Raw dolls
0:52.7	metildo the musical and Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio.
0:56.7	That's all coming up on Fresh Air Weekend.
1:01.7	This is Fresh Air Weekend. I'm Sam Brigger in For Terry Gross.
1:05.7	Terry has today's first interview and I'll let her introduce it.
1:08.7	My guest Camille Nanjani grew up in Karachi, Pakistan,
1:12.7	soaking up as much American pop culture as he could get access to.
1:16.7	He since become a part of American pop culture.
1:19.7	He started his performing career in the U.S. as a stand-up comic.
1:23.7	He became well-known for co-starring in the HBO comedy series Silicon Valley.
1:28.7	He was nominated for an Oscar for co-writing the comedy drama The Big Sick,
1:33.7	with his wife Emily V. Gordon based on their experiences when they started dating.
	...

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