WARNING: This post contains spoilers from the finale ofWelcome to Chippendales.
What was it about the story of Steve and Chippendales that resonated with you?
ROBERT SIEGEL:As a writer, it checked my boxes.
Kumail Nanjiani as Steve Banerjee in ‘Welcome to Chippendales’.Erin Simkin/Hulu
So that’s what attracted me to it.
I thought it was really fun and substantive.
What did the research process look like, and did you reach out to anyone within his circle?
Annaleigh Ashford as Irene and Juliette Lewis as Denise in ‘Welcome to Chippendales’.Jessica Brooks/Hulu
Our main characters, there just weren’t a whole lot of interviews out there with them.
You’re not as hemmed in.
you’re free to create a more original character.
Quentin Plair as Otis and Murray Bartlett as Nick in ‘Welcome to Chippendales’.Erin Simkin/Hulu
It’s an interesting little footnote on the whole thing.
We didn’t reach out to the family.
Obviously, most of the main players in the whole thing are dead.
Kumail Nanjiani as Steve in ‘Welcome to Chippendales’.Erin Simkin/Hulu
Kumail, the role diverges from your comedic roots.
What were some of the challenges, if any, of playing an anti-hero?
NANJIANI:I’ve never played a part where I wasn’t asked to be funny at all.
And how do I make audiences sort of connect with this guy if I don’t have the humor?
That was my biggest sort of challenge going into it.
He didn’t know how to be funny as this character, because the character is sort of humorless.
But as we shot it, it was clear that he did find a way.
But I just think he’s a tremendous actor.
I’ve always loved his work and I’m definitely partial to comedians.
I always think standup comedians make great dramatic actors.
How much of Steve’s story did you internalize while working on this?
NANJIANI:It was very important that I did not take any of him home with me.
For me, that was something I was very wary of going into [the series].
I wasn’t going to be method or anything; I still wanted to live my life.
It doesn’t really know that.
I want to be able to cut them off when I need to cut them off."
What kind of conversations were had with Quentin about bringing that dynamic to the screen?
NANJIANI:We talked about racism a lot.
You really see how much he looked up to Steve.
So his performance really does so much for us there.
For me, it was interesting to explore racism coming from a non-white party.
Not all of them were white, [which was] shocking to me.
SIEGEL:Steve, when he came to America, he equated success and class.
I don’t think he saw himself as racist.
I think he saw himself as doing whatever was necessary to make money.
He was very pragmatic and just saw everything in terms of green.
Let’s talk about that finale.
While awaiting trial, Steve dies by suicide in his jail cell.
What was the intention behind this final sequence?
The club is a success.
Everyone’s there, thriving and alive.
As that tracking shot moves through the club, you see Otis is there.
Otis and Nick and Irene and all that.
If he just could have said to himself, “Okay, this moment is perfect.
Just preserve this, keep this going,” everything would’ve turned out completely different.
One of my inspirations was a movie calledLongtime Companion.
It’s really, really emotional, so that was definitely something I was thinking of.
We went through a lot of different endings.
I probably wrote 10 different final five pages.
NANJIANI:It’s so bittersweet.
It’s almost hard to watch, because we’ve seen these people go through so much.
Seeing them alive again, happy, it’s almost painful to watch in a good way.
Thematically, it really speaks to the show, because it’s like, this is what he had.
If this was enough for him, everything would’ve been okay.
But this wild success wasn’t enough for him.
That really speaks to the themes of the whole show.
It’s a beautiful shot.
Richard Shepard designed that shot.
What do you hope to convey to audiences with Chippendales?
It’s really Steve’s story in the end.
He’s talked about it in interviews.
But yeah, I mean, exploitation is not in any way the goal of the thing.
For a show with murder, it’s not like it’s particularly gory.
I would say the average episode ofCSIhas way more gore.
The murder is just kind of a means to an end.
It’s really about the relationships and exploring who these people are and what makes them tick.
NANJIANI:I’m not a true crime person.
It’s not a genre that I watch all the time.
And also this idea that no amount of success is enough.
I think that’s definitely how success is perceived in America.
You just have to get bigger and bigger.
You look at corporations, if they stay the same size, that’s bad.
You’re supposed to grow every quarter.
Well, that’s kind of unsustainable, unrealistic, and a mentally unhealthy way of living your life.
You’re always looking forward to something that you don’t have yet.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
Welcome to Chippendalesis now streaming on Hulu.
