Nanjiani went straight to the heart of the matter, saying, according to
Slay News on Friday, that “he can’t get roles playing villains because Hollywood is too ‘woke’ to cast non-white actors as ‘bad guys.’” Nanjiani “is best known for his role as Dinesh in the HBO comedy ‘Silicon Valley’ (2014–2019) and for co-writing and starring in ‘The Big Sick’ (2017).” He is playing a villain of sorts in a new show, “Welcome to Chippendales,” which Slay describes as “the crazy but true crime story of Somen ‘Steve’ Banerjee, the Indian-American entrepreneur who started the Chippendales before taking a dark turn.” How dark? Well, “the show is based on the book ‘Deadly Dance: The Chippendales Murders’ by K. Scot Macdonald and Patrick Montesdeoca.” But if Banerjee is a villain, doesn’t that contradict everything Nanjiani is saying about not being able to get the juicy bad-guy roles?
No, it doesn’t. Nanjiani “said he only got the role of a criminal because it was based on a true story.” Banerjee was a real person and an Indian-American, so even though Hollywood doesn’t hesitate to
cast a black man as William F. Buckley, who was a real white man, casting directors wouldn’t be caught dead casting a white man as an Indian-American. Thus, Nanjiani had an inside track to the role. And he is glad of it, saying, “I’ve never gotten to play an arc like this. By far the most layered, complex, complicated person I’ve ever played.”