Kunal Nayyar Lands His Biggest Role Since ‘The Big Bang Theory’ Ended

Kunal Nayyar just landed himself a major role in an upcoming Adam Sandler film set to stream on Netflix. The new movie called Spaceman is continuing to grow its cast and crew with the Big Bang Theory star now added to that list. The film is based on the novel Spaceman of Bohemia by Jaroslav Kalfar and will be directed by Johan Renck and adapted by Colby Day.

Along with producers Reid Carolin, Peter Kiernan and Michael Parets, A-list actor Channing Tatum will also be in that lineup, according to Deadline. Nayyar is a 6x SAG nominated actor who gained a lot of success through the hit CBS series, starring in 279 as Raj Koothrappali. Since the show ended in 2019, this will be his largest project yet; however, he has been a part of a number of other successful films, including Ice Age: Continental Drift, Trolls, and Think Like a Dog.

As the cast continues to grow, one person fans are unsure on whether he’ll make another quick appearance is Shaquille O’Neal. The NBA legend has appeared in four Sandler films and revealed why, in detail, during a sit-down interview with PopCulture.com. “Crazy thing about the Adam Sandler movies — he used to sit there with Jack Nicholson, I used to always, especially after I scored a bucket and the crowd goes crazy — I’d be like, ‘Adam, give me a movie!’ He would say, ‘Win a championship first,’” O’Neal recalled. He then noted that once he finally won a few championships, Sandler kept his promise but O’Neal admitted by the time Sandler gave him a call about it, he had actually forgotten.

“He called me up one day and said, ‘Shaq, you got four championships, I owe you four movies,” he said. O’Neal has appeared in Grown Ups 2, Jack and Jill, Blended and most recently the Netflix Halloween film Hubie Halloween. Now that he’s fulfilled his four films, it’s unclear if the former Lakers star will continue to pop up in Sandler films or if they’ll keep it at four. However, if he did, it would be safe to say fans would love to see him.

As for Nayyar and the rest of his Big Bang Theory cast members, they’ve all gone on to succeed in their own separate projects, including Kaley Cuoco starring in The Flight Attendant that airs on HBO Max, and Mayim Bialik starring in her own show called Call Me Kat.