And he has to make a choice."
Kumail Nanjianiis living the dream.
More specifically, the dream of every fanboy ever.
Kumail Nanjiani as Haja in ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’.Lucasfilm Ltd.
And now Nanjiani has completed the Holy Grail franchise trifecta with his role in Disney+‘sObi-Wan Kenobi.
But what exactlyisthat role?
So who is this mystery man Nanjiani will be playing?
Kumail Nanjiani’s Kingo doing with that actor calls ‘finger guns’ in Marvel’s ‘Eternals’.Marvel Studios
“His name is Haja,” says the actor.
And he’s the guy who’s worked really hard to stay out of the bigger conflicts at play.
He just kind of wants to be his own guy.
Survival for him is all that matters."
“He’s this sort of con-man guy who cons people for money,” explains Nanjiani.
“That’s what’s important to him.
And he has to make a choice.”
(Read our interview below andlisten to it on the Dagobah Dispatch podcast.)
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How big aStar Warsguy were you when you signed on for this madness?
KUMAIL NANJIANI:Really big.
I don’t remember a time when I didn’t really loveStar Wars.
Obviously, I collected the action figures when I was a kid.
So it was a very exciting phone call to get.
Yeah, but she should have run it by you.
That’s what I told her.
So, do all rules just kind of go out the window when it comes to considering aStar Warsoffer?
Oh, it falls by the wayside.
You’re like, “Okay, this is either really good or really bad.”
They’re like, “We really want everyone to be on the call.”
And I remember exactly where I was.
I was in my kitchen, and I was like, “Are you serious?”
And I said “Yes, of course!”
And then I go had a Zoom with Deb.
And she was kind of trying to pitch it to me to convince me why I should do it.
I was like, “Deb, I’m going to do it.
You don’t need to, like, talk me into doingStar Wars.”
So that was another exciting piece to the whole thing.
Did you have a favoriteStar Warscharacter growing up?
It’s really kind of a boring answer, but Han Solo.
I just thought he was the coolest motherf—er in the world.
I’m anEmpire Strikes Backguy.
What your favoriteStar Warsmovie?
I thinkA New Hopefor me, just because it’s the first one.
They sawA New Hope.
There was notA New Hope.
There was noStar Wars.
And then suddenly there wasStar Wars.
I mean, it changed the world.
It’s the scale of it, so much bigger than anything.
That’s pretty much the trifecta.
Yeah, it’s really, really surreal.
I kind of can’t believe it.
But each thing I have to approach is just like a job.
So, on this, I met Ewan, he was lovely, wonderful.
They yell “Action!”
That is what is happening!"
When you’re in the Volume, you see everything, it’s not blue screen anymore.
I don’t let myself.
Yeah, it really looks like I’m inStar Wars."
I really try not to.
And especially in the beginning.
When you’re there and it’s the first day, those nerves can really overtake you.
Who’s one of the greatest actors of all time.
I have to be good in this scene."
What are some of the similarities or differences of working onStar Warsand Marvel projects?
Did you notice any commonalities or were they vastly different just in terms of the setup and production?
I think withStar Wars, the difference was… Obviously working onEternals, it’s the MCU.
The people don’t really know these characters and don’t really know this part of the MCU.
So it’s a new universe that’s being created as you’re going.
WithStar Wars, you’re really stepping into something that has been established for a very long time.
It still is the same visual language, people know these characters.
Every day, people would wearStar Warsclothes, T-shirts with Chewbacca on them.
And just everyone was really, really every single day excited to be working onStar Wars.
And then we did this, and then we did this."
And everyone was just really excited to go to work every day.
So the joy of it for the crew really was unique and special.
Even ones that have been killed off somehow manage to find their way back onscreen.
So have you thought about that?
Has there been any talk about potentially showing up beyond this series at some point?
It’s all I’ve thought about.
I don’t know what that does, but yeah, I would love to play this character again.
Not just because ofStar Wars, but it’s a really, really, really fun character to play.
I’ve never gotten to play a character like this before.
He can talk people into stuff, so that’s a really fun character to play.
And I actually did a lot of research online on con men, and on magicians too.
Because magicians, let’s face it, they’re kind of like a con man, right?
They’re tricking people.
And I love this character so much.
It would be genuinely a dream come true to play him again.
Can we get Kathleen Kennedy on here?
Yeah, let me ring her up right now.
We’ll conference her in.
Make it sound like it’s your idea.
Have you tried to use any of these con-man techniques you learned in your actual life?
That’s a big con-man trick.
People subconsciously trust people who say their own names back to them.
We’re all obsessed with ourselves.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
