After securing his breakthrough role as Rajesh Koothrappali in The Big Bang Theory, Kunal Nayyar quickly rose to fame, earning a staggering $1 million per episode at the height of the show’s success and becoming one of the highest-paid actors on television ever.
Before walking into the audition that would change his life, Nayyar’s days looked worlds away from Hollywood stardom. He spent his early years in America scrubbing toilets, teaching acting, and hustling through a string of side gigs—all while racing against a ticking visa clock and competing against a sea of other hopefuls.
“I just did any job I could. I cleaned toilets in my first year in 1999, I was in the housekeeping department. I did every and anything I could,” the 44-year-old actor recalls in an exclusive interview with Fortune. “There was no job that was beneath me.”
“I needed to book something big for me to be able to apply for a permanent resident card, and then I auditioned for Big Bang, and then the rest is history.”
“But I only had one year left on my visa, because when you graduate as an international student, you get one year’s free work. So I was up against it in terms of timing.”
