Oscar nominee Kumail Nanjiani ‘ignored advice not to appear on C4’s Taskmaster’
Taskmaster’s S21 line-up (L-R) Amy Gledhill, Armando Iannucci, Joanna Page, Joel Dommett, Kumail Nanjiani
Hollywood actor and writer Kumail Nanjiani has said his decision to appear on the upcoming season of Channel 4’s Taskmaster went against the financial advice of his lawyer and was driven instead by his long-standing affection for the cult UK format.
The US-based Oscar-nominated star of The Big Sick and Marvel’s Eternals was revealed this week as part of the line-up for Taskmaster’s 21st season, marking one of the show’s highest-profile international bookings to date.
Speaking to Vulture’s Good One podcast about how his involvement in the Avalon-produced series came about, Nanjiani said he has been a fan of the show, which is available in the US on YouTube, for years.
Having watched James Acaster’s special Repertoire on Netflix in 2018, Nanjiani and his wife Emily V Gordon sought out the UK comedian’s other work, which led them to the seventh season of Taskmaster.
“We started watching it and were quickly like, ‘This is the best show of all time,'” said Nanjiani, who added he has wanted to appear on the show for “a long time.”
After a chance encounter with UK comedian Tim Key, a consultant and former contestant on the show, Nanjiani was put in touch with Taskmaster creator and co-host Alex Horne and the wheels were set in motion.
Nanjiani added that despite the show enjoying a cult fandom online in the US, his lawyer was sceptical about his involvement.
“Agents and managers here do not know what Taskmaster is. My lawyer was like, ‘So why are you doing this?’ He called me three times asking if I was sure, because TV there doesn’t pay like it does here. They were like, ‘You’re going to lose money doing this.’ I said, ‘I know but I want to do it.’ And it was great,” said Nanjiani.
Nanjiani follows in the footsteps of Jason Mantzoukas (Big Mouth), who became Taskmaster UK’s first US-based contestant when he appeared in its 19th season last year.
Nanjiani was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for the 2017 film The Big Sick, which he co-wrote with his wife, Emily V. Gordon, based on their real-life romance.
In 2018, Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world. His other notable credits include Kingo in the Marvel superhero film Eternals, Haja Estree in the Disney+ miniseries Obi-Wan Kenobi and Vik in The Boys.
As well as Nanjiani, the next season of Taskmaster will feature BAFTA- and Emmy-winning writer, director and broadcaster Armando Iannucci (The Thick of It); presenter, broadcaster and actress Joanna Page (Gavin & Stacey); comedian and presenter Joel Dommett (The Masked Singer); and comedian, actor and writer Amy Gledhill (Edinburgh Comedy Award Winner 2024).
Co-hosted by Horne alongside Greg Davies, Taskmaster sets a group of comedians a range of ridiculous tasks as they compete over the season to win a trophy.
The UK version first aired on UKTV channel Dave in 2015 before moving in 2020 to Channel 4, which put in a bumper six-season order for the show in 2023 and began airing spin-off Junior Taskmaster in 2024.
Avalon and US cable network Comedy Central paired up in 2018 for a US remake, which was cancelled after one season. However, Avalon co-executive chairman Jon Thoday told C21 last year a second attempt to remake the format in the US is on the cards thanks to its popularity on YouTube.
