When you and your best friends make up a group of secret ninja warrior heroes, you should feel like you’re on top of the world. But when you’re a nervous teenager who’s full of self-doubt like Jay, aka the Lightning Ninja (voiced by Kumail Nanjiani) in The LEGO Ninjago Movie, having to face off with Garmadon (voiced by Justin Theroux), The Worst Guy Ever, is terrifying.

While at the LEGOLAND California Resort for the film’s press junket, Collider got the opportunity to sit down with actor Kumail Nanjiani to talk about why he wanted to be a part of The LEGO Ninjago Movie, how much fun they had improvising when they actually got to work together, playing the sensitive and emotional ninja, how he’s most jealous of Jay, what he’d want his own personal ninja superpower and mech to be, and playing with LEGOs as a kid. He also talked about what it’s been like to be a part of the hit comedy series Silicon Valley, the success of The Big Sick (which he co-wrote with his wife, Emily V. Gordon), what he looks for in a project, and whether he’d also like to try his hand at directing.

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First of all, congratulations on the success of The Big Sick! Could you ever have imagined the response you’d get, and have you fully been able to wrap your head around the success of such a personal project?

KUMAIL NANJIANI:  No! It’s been far behind what we’d ever hoped for. It’s been a big, crazy thing!

Is it extra cool, when it’s something so personal?

NANJIANI:  Yeah, ‘cause if they don’t like it, it’s a pretty big matzo ball. If it’s something so personal and then people don’t like it, it really feels like an indictment of you, as a person. But we were so cavalier, in the sense that we were like, “We’ll put our lives out there and hope people like it.” It’s good that they like it, but it could have gone very awry.

What sold you on The LEGO Ninjago Movie and made you want to be a part of it?

NANJIANI:  I’d only seen the first LEGO Movie, at that point, which I had really, really loved. I’ve seen LEGO Batman since then, but when we started, I hadn’t seen it because it wasn’t done. I just loved the first movie a lot. I thought it was very surprising. I didn’t know what to expect. I knew that Chris [Miller] and Phil [Lord] were very good, but it was so moving and funny and weird. So, when they called me to ask me to do it, and they said who else was doing it, and it was Dave Franco, Olivia Munn, Justin Theroux, Zach Woods, Abbi Jacobson, Fred Armisen and Michael Peña, I was like, “This is the most unbelievable cast, ever! Every one of these people are so talented!” For me, it was a very easy decision. I didn’t have to think about it.

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Image via Warner Bros.

But then, do you get sad when you realize that you don’t actually get to work with your voice co-stars?

NANJIANI:  The most time I’ve spent with them is actually promoting the movie. We did have a couple of sessions where we were all there, which is pretty rare. And then, there were some smaller sessions where it was just me and Zach, or me, Zach and Fred, or me and Abbi. They tried to do as many little groups as they could do, but ultimately, I didn’t really get to know Justin Theroux until we were at Comic-Con promoting the movie together.

What was it like to have those sessions with the other actors? Did you get to have the freedom to play off of each other?

NANJIANI:  There was a lot of improv. It was really, really, really fun. They really encouraged improvisation, and we were able to develop scenes, in a way that would be impossible without the other people there. You could really build things into a surprising new direction, and sometimes in a way that you’d never be able to write. There were all of these really talented people inhabiting these very different characters, and how they see their characters is very unique to their point of view. It was really, really exciting. We had one long full-day session with everyone, and there are some scenes in the movie that came from that long session. That was really, really fun!

Who is Jay and how does he fit into the city of Ninjago?

NANJIANI:  He’s the one who’s the least confident, in the sense that he doesn’t want to go to the fights. He always thinks they should just go home. He’s a kid who’s not in control of his emotions, so he’s in love with the girl, but too scared to talk to her. He wants to be cool, but he can’t be cool because, if you want to be cool, you’ll never be cool. He’s just a kid who’s at the mercy of his own emotions. He’s very sensitive. Emotions can be very scary! It’s unbelievable that they’re teenagers, and then suddenly it’s puberty, so good luck! I couldn’t handle it now. If I hit puberty now, I’d be a mess, and they’re 14!

How did Jay end up a ninja, with his nervous nature and self-doubt? Was he hoping that it would help him find the confidence that he’s lacking?

NANJIANI:  When he’s wearing the mask, I think he feels a lot more confident. I also think he’s probably the guy who tells all the kids, “Hey, maybe we should tell everyone that we’re these ninjas. I think our lives would be a lot better.” I think he became a ninja because he was friends with these guys. They really like him, and he really likes them. The whole group feels like really good friends. It feels like they’ve been bonded together for awhile. I think he fell into it because he was friends with these guys.

How challenging is it for Jay to be a hero, but not be able to tell anyone that he’s actually the Lightning Ninja?

NANJIANI:  I know! That’s the whole thing with superheroes. They can’t tell people that they’re superheroes. Only Iron Man can. Everybody else has to pretend.

What can Jay do, as the Lightning Ninja, that makes you the most jealous?

NANJIANI:  Just being a ninja! He can control electricity. That’s amazing! His weapon is awesome. His mech is awesome. He’s just got a pretty great life. I wish he would look at it and be like, “Hey, I’m doing pretty good!” I’d take any part of his life, except for being in high school.

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Image via Warner Bros.

Is this the type of movie you wish was live-action?

NANJIANI:  I think it would probably be pretty tough for me to do all of the fighting. I think I was okay just being in a booth, sitting down on a tall stool and pretending like I was fighting.

If you were a part of your own secret ninja group of warriors that save the day, what would you want your power or ability to be and what would your own personal mech look like?

NANJIANI:  Oh, wow! I think I’d want my mech to just look like a giant version of me, with my face, so that everybody knows who the ninja is. And I think ultimately stealth would be a good power. If you could use that to sneak up on people in your mech, that would be awesome. I could sneak up on them, and then just appear as a giant version of me, but very blocky.

What did you most enjoy about getting to bring this character to life?

NANJIANI:  It’s really fun to be able to play extremes of emotion, where you can be super scared, super excited, super joyful, or whatever. It’s really fun because in normal life, you keep your emotions in check. It’s fun to have a character where you can just completely let go and be a kid.

What was the strangest recording experience you found yourself having on this film?

NANJIANI:  It’s weird when you’re just doing the same line, over and over, and you’re just alone in a booth. You’ve said it 10 times and you’re like, “I don’t think this is how it’s meant to be. If my parents saw this now, they’d think I’ve made wrong decisions.” And then, you do a bunch of grunts in a row and a bunch of screams in a row, and you have to trust that they’ll edit it, so that you don’t look like an idiot.

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Image via Warner Bros.

When you’re responsible for bringing life and personality to a LEGO figure, does it make you look at or think about LEGOs any differently?

NANJIANI:  Yeah. When I saw my LEGO figure, for the first time, I almost cried. It was so exciting! When I first saw Jay, before he came out on the market, I was like, “Oh, my god, can I keep him?!” And they were like, “No.” But, it was very exciting!

Had you ever played with LEGOs before?

NANJIANI:  Yeah, when I was a kid, I definitely had LEGOs and stuff.

It’s also been so much fun to watch you on Silicon Valley.

NANJIANI:  Oh, thank you!

How was it to get to work with your Silicon Valley co-star Zach Woods in such a different capacity, with Ninjago?

NANJIANI:  It was great to get to play different characters. He’s a robot. It was really fun!

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Image via Warner Bros.

What’s it been like to be a part of a show like Silicon Valley, working with that cast and creative team?

NANJIANI:  Most comedies are about resetting, so the story ends, they haven’t learned anything, and they’re back in the same situation. What I like about this show, and about HBO comedies, is that it’s about narrative and change, which is more challenging, but it’s also more satisfying. When we first shot it, we had no idea if anybody was gonna see it, or what it was gonna be. Even though it’s been four years, and we’re about to do the fifth season next year and we’re one of the established shows, to me, it still feels like the new show on the block. It still feels like a new and exciting thing. It’s so hard to get a job, so to have a job on a show that I’d watch, even if I wasn’t on it, is a dream.

At this point in your career, what gets you excited about a project and what makes you decide that it’s something that’s just not for you?

NANJIANI:  I can’t judge how other people are gonna like it. I can only judge how I like it. If I read a script, I’m like, “Is this something that I could love? Really, really love?” There are types of movies that I read that are really good for what they are, but they’re not something that I would really love, so then I don’t do it. For me, I want to do stuff where I feel like there’s a chance that it could be one of the movies that’s a favorite of mine, even if I wasn’t in it. That’s how I look at it. I try to just find stuff that I, as a fan, would really like.

You also work as a writer and producer. Have you thought about throwing your hat in the ring as a director, as well?

NANJIANI: I’d love to, at some point, but not right now. We won’t do it for the next thing that we write. Maybe after that. Who knows? It’s a hard job. I learned a lot, doing The Big Sick, seeing Mike [Showalter] do it. It’s a lot of work. It really is all-consuming, and if you’re also acting in it, it’s just so many different hats to wear. I’m just trying to get used to doing one thing. But at some point, I would love to.

The LEGO Ninjago Movie opens in theaters on September 22nd.