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I mean, we did discuss Chippendales choreography.
The phrase dick thrusting was used.
Nanjiani and Ashford, who play nightclub-running romantic partners, talked about what attracts their characters to each other.
(Whispers seductively: math.)
There was even some chatter about what each persons go-to stripping song might be.
Watch the full conversation below, or read on for the transcript.
I tried writing one ten years ago, and thats actually how I connected with Kumail.
I originally approached him to star in my film version, which no one wanted to make.
TV has Walter White and Tony Soprano, but on the film side, likability is a big issue.
The Chippendales still do a show in Las Vegas.
I get why it was such a hit!
Jenni Konner:When we were shooting those dance scenes, the extras were not pretending to enjoy it.
I was like,This really works!
Annaleigh Ashford:I was not pretending to enjoy it.
The first day, we had our big,the club is a success!
Chippendales-rip-off-the pants!day.
When we did our research, we always heard people talk about this palpable energy in the room.
That day, you could cut the air with a knife.
Wed just go OOOHHH!, including Kumail and Murray.
We couldnt help it.
And every time, she turned into an animal!
There was no acting!
She would black out, and wed yell cut!
and shes like Wha?
Lets do the take!
Were like, You nailed it, maam!
AA:It did feel very Method.
We were in a place that was a reenactment of the whole scenario.
We had the hair and clothes, and everything smelled like the 70s.
What is the smell of the 70s?AA:Sweat and cocaine there was no cocaine!
There was just sweat.
So we had some actors who can dance, and some dancers who can act.
Spencer Boldman and Quentin Plair were two of the actors, and they had big roles.
The rest were all dancers who did some acting in the show and were phenomenal.
AA:We had a lot of Broadway folks on set.
Andrew Rannells and Robin de Jesus have Broadway backgrounds.
KN:And you!
AA:I sometimes do Broadway.
JK:And theyreripped.
AA:That too.
KN:I wasnt involved in picking the dancers.
Did you guys get tapes and stuff?
We looked at the tapes and we scrutinized their bodies.
It felt … risky in 2022!
We were classy about it.
And the dancer bodies do evolve.
They get more chiseled.
RS:1978 ripped is not 1986 ripped.
All I wanted to do was the Cassie dance when nobody was looking!
RS:Whats the Cassie dance?
AA:Its inChorus Line, when she gets to do her dance for Zach.
Play me the music …
RS:Can you do it?
AA:No, I need to stretch.
I had no idea what the story was until Rob brought it to my attention.
He said the guy who started Chippendales was an immigrant from India and the story was bananas.
In this instance, we didnt have very much.
JK:They committed so hard to these parts.
They have such good chemistry.
Theyre like Ross and Rachel like a murder-y Ross and Rachel!
I was astounded to see how many questions they had.
In this instance, we didnt need any more information.
KN:And also they were dead.
AA:Right, they were dead!
Thats the only information.
RS:Ive never even seen that.
I know shes from Buffalo, which we changed I think thats it!
Of all the characters in the show, she was the most blank canvas.
AA:She was good at math.
Lets take a look at a clip of Steve from the first episode.JK:Look how different Kumail looks!
Thats not the same guy.
KN:Yeah, its calledacting.
AA:Its really good hair!
I have so many pictures of him with these little hair clips in between takes.
KN:The look I asked for was a comb-over with a full head of hair.
I think they nailed it.
Kumail, can you talk about what motivates Steve?
Hes clearly interested in Hugh Hefner; he doesnt want to run a gas station anymore.
Initially, he tries to open a club, but its focused on backgammon.
For some reason, that doesnt hit.KN:No, he wasway ahead of his time.
He likes to earn money, but he doesnt seem like somebody interested in material things, necessarily.
And success isnt as important to him as other peoplethinkinghes successful.
And even though he gets that version of success, its not enough for him.
When we first meet Irene, shes at a bachelorette party and looks absolutely miserable to be in Chippendales.
She was crawling out of her skin.
The reason she wanted to work there is because she loved the glamour and the magic of Hollywood.
And for Irene, it was accounting.
It was her way to be connected to something exciting, something she longed to be a part of.
Also, theres a really special, Shakespearean connection these two have.
And their love language is numbers.
That scene is so beautifully written, and theres so much subtext under the math of it all.
Thats what you want with the person you spend your life with.
KN:For Steve, he only likes himself when he sees himself through her eyes.
And that was such a gift to get Annaleigh.
What was going to work and what wasnt going to work was all in relation to this relationship.
RS:Id go into the green room and the two of them would be huddled up mapping.
AA:As an actor, you always say, Whats my function in the play?
Is that a fair assessment?KN:Yeah, thats a fair assessment.
Its based on your background, what you look like, all that kind of stuff.
Thats the worst thing anybody could say to him.
And his mom is right.
Thats the worm that grows inside him and ultimately leads him down the dark paths he walks.
He never gets away from that statement.
Theres another cultural outsider in the form of Otis, the only Black dancer.
From what Ive watched so far, hes always separate from the other dancers, who are all white.
Most of the clientele is white.
RS:Steve equated success with whiteness.
If he could have, he would have been white, and thats something he never could transcend.
Thats a very real thing.
Its something I think about a lot that we dont really talk about.
And I dont think that was Steves reason for creating it.
He just stumbled on it and then that became part of the pitch of the show.
Theres also something special about the time in which it happened.
That was a moment of sexual revolution, womens revolution, people feeling liberated.
The timing couldnt have been more perfect.
Unfortunately, it was just a bunch of men trying to make money at the top of it.
JK:And have a lot of sex.
They were having a lot of sex and sometimes getting paid for it.
JK:Theyre snaps, they go back.
RS:Theyre very engineered and difficult to make.
It takes a lot to get it right, so Id say probably three.
JK:Thats very wrong.
RS:Maybe per actor.
AA:I was more curious about the crafting of the thongs.
I forgot: Its a lot of butt cheeks.
The thong was an important piece of the puzzle.
What was your answer when he asked that?AA:I was like, Yeah!
KN:Do you like your action figures?
Okay, let Mommy have her butt cheeks.
AA:But I was just like, Theyre dancing, bud!
Thats how theyre expressing themselves, you know?
RS:That kind of dancing requires an intimacy coordinator.
Did you have an intimacy coordinator for the dancing specifically?All:Yeah.
I just want to end with gyrating: Enough is enough is enough!
RS:What about Liza With a Z?
AA:Thats great, but thats for a different kind of strip club.
JK:I think I would do a band from the 70s that was pretty unattractive.
If you play Beyonce, then people are expecting to see Beyonce.
Its why I never go as a super-gorgeous person for a Halloween costume.
I just dont want to be the me-version of Beyonce.
AA:If theres any songs about meat, thats good for stripping.
KN:Isnt there one inSweeneyTood?
Isnt there a song about meat pies?
AA:My stripper song is The Worst Pies in London.
AA:Im gonna roll out that dough nice and slow!
Did you answer Kumail?KN:X-Filestheme song?
The truth is out there, or is it in here?KN:Exactly!
Someone said it to me last night!
KN:I am so thankful Im not.
I keep my shirt on the entire time, and they have to watch me eat cheesecake.
RS:Did you enjoy it?
KN:The eating?
I enjoyed it up to a point, but I got so unhealthy I gave myself sleep apnea.
And then while shooting this I had to use a CPAP machine.
You have a huge thing on your face, and its a loud machine keeping you alive all night.
