-I have a question.
What's that little door back there?
Is that where you keep your troll people?
-Yeah, we have -- Well, that's -- those are --
those are the troll people there.
And then, those are --
What's slightly larger than a troll?
A hobbit? An ogre, I guess, yeah.
-A hobbit's smaller than a troll, right?
We established that from "Lord of the Rings"?
-Yeah, hobbits are small. -Yeah.
I mean, you would know, right?
Would you know? I don't know.
Do you like those films? -I would know.
I watched those films. -[ Laughs ]
-Listen, uh, I feel like you're stereotyping me.
However, the problem is, you are accurate, so...
-You did -- I want to bring it up,
because you broke free of your own stereotype recently.
Now, in the beginning, you played into the stereotype.
You got cast in a Marvel project, "The Eternals."
That's very much in line with what we'd expect from Kumail.
I remember once seeing you do stand-up comedy
in the basement of a comic-book store.
All of that tracked. -Mm-hmm.
-Then you got in, like, super comic-book shape,
and that was, I think, where you diverged
from what we knew and expected of Kumail.
-To be sincere, I was like, so they asked me
to play a superhero thing, and I was --
and my first thought was,
"My God. I can't believe this is happening."
Second thought was, "[Bleep] I have to now get in shape."
Because it was important to me because I was the first, like,
Pakistani superhero, like, in a mainstream Hollywood movie,
in a Marvel movie.
I was like, "I want to look like somebody who can, like,
hang with Thor and Captain America," you know?
I didn't want to, like... -Yeah.
-...also be the first schlubby superhero.
Like, I just wanted to break one barrier.
I didn't want to break all of the barriers.
-Right. -And I think that's a valid
and valuable barrier to break.
It's for somebody else, not for me.
So that's why I sort of was like, "All right.
I have to really, really do this."
You know what sucks about it is,
there was no, like, secret to it, you know?
It just was -- it was like, "Oh, if I had done this
when I was 21, I would have looked like this
for most of my life, and it would've been
way easier to achieve.
How different would everything have been?"
Emily did say -- She -- You know, it was --
This transformation was hard for me, but it was harder for Emily.
I definitely became, like, 30% less interesting,
but I think it's a fair trade. [ Both laugh ]
-You -- We had Issa Rae on this week,
talking about "The Lovebirds."
This is a film where you guys play a couple going through
some tough times, and you get framed for murder.
You filmed it in New Orleans.
And she was talking about, it was nice to be a woman
on a film set who was co-starring with a man
who were both thinking about what they were eating.
But I realize now, both of you,
having to think about it, in New Orleans,
a city known for its food, was it extra hard?
-Yeah. I mean, it's impossible.
Everything is, like, delicious and deep-fried, you know?
It's, uh -- It was really --
You know what I did? I just didn't eat it.
I never even tried it.
Like, people would be like,
"You can just one day just try this food, you have to,"
and I was like, "I'll make another trip out."
I didn't have one beignet, you know?
I was like, "If I have one, then I know what I'm missing.
If I don't go there and just stick to my
awful protein shakes and protein bars..."
-[ Laughs ]
-You know, in the beginning,
when I started having protein shakes, I was like,
"This isn't so bad."
And now I'm a year and a half in, I'm like,
"This tastes like hot vomit." [ Both laugh ]
-You get -- You get kicked by a horse in the film --
not a real horse, but a real horse with a rubber leg?
Is this true?
-Well, there was a real horse.
And, you know, we -- We didn't get to --
That scene took a long time,
so the horse kind of had to wait.
Like, the horse waited, like, three extra days.
I could tell the horse was a little like,
"Come on, guys. I'm a [bleep] horse."
Sorry, I shouldn't swear. [ Both laugh ]
He's like, "I'm a horse. Don't make me wait.
I'm a horse."
And it was weird. You'd just be sitting there,
waiting to shoot the scene, and you look over,
and by craft services, there's a horse.
There's, like, a horse there.
Like, he was in our space.
The horse didn't have his own trailer.
He would actually have a trailer trailer.
So -- But we filmed it so that when I actually got kicked,
you know, it's an actual -- like, a very realistic rubber --
just the leg of a horse,
which is much more disturbing than a horse.
Like, if you're walking down the street, what's worse?
You see a horse, or you see just the leg of a horse?
-Yeah. Yeah.
I mean, I guess you would think you would have a better chance
of getting away from a solitary leg.
-If it's just the leg of a horse,
and it's moving, two things.
One, you will get away.
Two, your world is now different.
-It's very exciting to see you and Issa together.
I've been fans of you both for a really long time.
The movie is great.
And thank you so much, Kumail.
It's always so nice to talk to you,
and thanks for making us some time.
-Thanks for having me, man. Thank you.
-All right, we'll see you soon.