Eternals star started therapy due to “trauma” of bad reviews

Eternals star Kumail Nanjiani has opened up about how the film’s negative press reviews took a toll on his mental health.

On the heels of the world opening up after the global shutdown, the Marvel Cinematic Universe released one of their most ambitious entries in the form of the film Eternals.

Packed to the gills with A-list actors like Angelina Jolie and Salma Hayek, the movie focused on the Eternals, a team of immortal alien beings who ban together to protect Earth from their ancient counterparts the Deviants.

Despite the stellar cast and unique story, Eternals was negatively reviewed by critics and fans alike, and it seems like the bad reception took a toll on the cast as star Kumail Nanjiani has opened up about how much his mental health suffered because of the experience.

Nanjiani recalls mental health struggles after Eternals bombed

The actor recently appeared on an episode of the podcast Inside of You With Michael Rosenbaum where he got candid about how the negative Eternals reviewed really messed with his mental health.

“The reviews were bad, and I was too aware of it. I was reading every review and checking too much,” Nanjiani explained, “It was really, really hard because Marvel thought that movie was going to be really, really well reviewed, so they lifted the embargo early and put it in some fancy movie festivals and they sent us on a big global tour to promote the movie right as the embargo lifted.”

“I think there was some weird soup in the atmosphere for why that movie got slammed so much, and I think not much of it has to do with the actual quality of the movie.”

Nanjiani continued stating, “It was really hard, and that was when I thought it was unfair to me and unfair to [my wife] Emily, and I can’t approach my work this way anymore. Some shit has to change, so I started counseling. I still talk to my therapist about that.”

The actor went on to explain that he wasn’t the only Eternals cast member who thought the entire experience was hard and traumatic as he recalled having dinner with an unnamed co-star and reminiscing on that chaotic time.

Despite not receiving a warm reception by fans and critics, Eternals could possibly see a future sequel as the movie’s ending promised a window into the deeper space side of the MCU.