Kumail Nanjiani Doesn't Look Like This Anymore

Kumail Nanjiani: actor, stand-up comedian, super-ripped heartthrob? As of Monday, yup. That was the day the Silicon Valley actor posted a mega reveal to Instagram: two shirtless images (see them here) revealing an incredibly muscular bod. His very appropriate hashtag? #thirstyshirtless. His lengthy caption explains all. Nanjiani writes that roughly a year ago he landed a role in Marvel's Eternals and "decided I wanted to transform how I looked"—something he clearly achieved, and how he did so is just as clear to him. "I would not have been able to do this if I didn't have a full year with the best trainers and nutritionists paid for by the biggest studio in the world," he writes. "I'm glad I look like this, but I also understand why I never did before. It would have been impossible without these resources and time."

He goes on to thank his trainers and the company that supplied him with healthy food. But he saved his "biggest thanks" for wife Emily V. Gordon, "for putting up with me complaining and talking about only working out and dieting for the last year. I promise I’ll be interesting again some day." The Daily Dot rounds up a slew of positive Twitter reactions, from the gobsmacked to the humorous. MarketWatch reports on a more negative one: from Disney heiress Abigail Disney. "Really? This is just so wrong," she tweeted, continuing, "It's just that this kind of thing really puts pressure on adolescents and others who look to celebrities for their role models. But worse, conflating what Hollywood presents as ideal with health is a grave mistake." She did a turnaround once someone pointed out his caption. "Wow, I so wish I'd gone and looked at [it] before I posted!" she wrote. "Now I want to throw him a parade!" (More Kumail Nanjiani stories.)