Movies - TV
Kumail Nanjiani's First SNL Appearance Earned Him An Apology From Jason Sudeikis
By JOE ROBERTS
Having played Marvel's first South Asian superhero and reinvented himself for Hulu's "Welcome To Chippendales," Kumail Nanjiani has come a long way from his days of struggling to break into the industry. During one of those days, in 2008, he played a small part in NBC's "Saturday Night Live," which was where he first met "Ted Lasso" star Jason Sudeikis.
Speaking on the "Fly on the Wall" podcast, Nanjiani explained that he had a small three-line role on Season 34, Episode 2 of "SNL," which was cut even shorter because of Sudeikis. The actor said, "Sudeikis messed up his line, and it threw me so much in dress that I messed up my line. [...] So then suddenly when I get the script for air, now I have two lines instead of three lines."
Nanjiani, who would go on to host the show in 2017, added that Sudeikis noted his mistake before the live show, saying, "[Sudeikis] looks at me and he says, 'I'm sorry.' He apologized to me. It meant a lot to me." He also recalled how the cast and crew "went out of their way" to make him feel comfortable, and years later, he was even offered a writing job on "SNL."