In 2007, Nanjiani wrote and staged an original autobiographical one-man show in Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles. In addition to guest-starring in comedy shows like
Portlandia, Nanjiani was featured in a supporting role in the
TNT series
Franklin & Bash. He played the role of Pindar Singh, an agoraphobic fiction nerd working for the title characters. Nanjiani guest-starred on HBO's
Veep as a statistician. He had the recurring roles of Amir Larussa on
Newsreaders and Prismo on
Adventure Time. His
Comedy Central special
Beta Male aired in July 2013. In 2015, Nanjiani guest-starred in the
Broad City episode "In Heat". Starting on March 22, 2015, he provided his voice for the character of Mshak Moradi in the
Hunt the Truth audio drama, part of the marketing campaign for
Halo 5: Guardians. On May 5, 2015, he appeared on the
Inside Amy Schumer episode "12 Angry Men Inside Amy Schumer", a parody of
12 Angry Men, as one of the jurors. In July 2015, Nanjiani provided guest voices on
Aqua Teen Hunger Force and
Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero. In 2017, Nanjiani starred in the
romantic comedy film
The Big Sick, which he wrote with Gordon. The film is about their relationship, with Nanjiani playing himself and
Zoe Kazan playing Gordon (renamed Emily Gardner). The film was one of the most acclaimed of 2017, and was chosen by
American Film Institute as one of the top 10 films of the year and nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. The film was also the third-highest-grossing
independent film released in 2017, grossing over $40 million. In 2018, he was invited to the actors and writers branch of the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. , 2019 In 2019, Nanjiani headlined the first episode of the
CBS All Access revival of the anthology series
The Twilight Zone. For his role on
The Twilight Zone, Nanjiani received a nomination for the
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series. In film, Nanjiani voiced the alien Pawny in
Men in Black International, which was released on June 14. Nanjiani stated, "I play an alien so you won't see my face but you'll hear my voice, I'm a little alien frog/lizard... thing." Nanjiani also stars in the
action comedy film Stuber, released on July 12. In 2020, Nanjiani lent his voice to Plimpton, an ostrich, in the adventure comedy film
Dolittle. He also wrote for and produced the
Apple TV+ anthology series
Little America, which premiered in January 2020. The series is based on the story collection of the same name from
Epic Magazine which focuses on stories from immigrants. To promote the series, Nanjiani appeared at the
Apple Event of March 25, 2019. Nanjiani starred with
Issa Rae in the comedy-chase film
The Lovebirds, directed by
Michael Showalter, produced by
Paramount Pictures, and released by Netflix in May 2020. In March 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Nanjiani and his wife Emily Gordon launched a podcast,
Staying In with Emily and Kumail. The series chronicles their experiences as a couple forced to live in isolation during the global pandemic. The podcast has been widely acclaimed in the media, as a welcome respite during a period of high anxiety.
GQ described it as "consistently endearing, actually useful, and often hilarious."
New York magazine relates that "all advice is shared via cute and charming banter." He starred in the
Marvel Cinematic Universe film
Eternals, as
Kingo, which was released on November 5, 2021. Nanjiani received widespread attention and
went viral after sharing pictures of his body transformation for the shooting of
Eternals in 2019. Speaking with
GQ, he noted how he has since become less comfortable speaking about his body due to the intense amount of attention it received online. In February 2020, Nanjiani signed on to star in
The Independent, a
political thriller to be directed by
Amy Rice, though he ultimately dropped out of the role. In 2022, Nanjiani starred in the
Hulu miniseries
Welcome to Chippendales in the lead role of
Somen "Steve" Banerjee, the hitman-hiring founder of the
Chippendales dance troupe. On March 24, 2023, it was confirmed that Nanjiani had joined the cast of
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. He appeared in the film, released on March 22 of the following year, as the character Nadeem Razmaadi / Firemaster. In 2024, Nanjiani and his wife Emily V. Gordon formed the production company Winter Coat Films. On July 16, it was announced that Nanjiani would play Mary's Husband in the Broadway play
Oh, Mary!. His run began on August 4, 2025. Also in 2025, Nanjiani released the stand-up comedy special
Night Thoughts on Hulu. ==Personal life==