Video: Kumail Nanjiani Talks Forgetting Lines as Mary's Husband in OH, MARY!
Nanjiani stars in Oh, Mary! through September 28 at the Lyceum Theatre.
By: Josh Sharpe Sep. 03, 2025
Kumail Nanjiani, who recently made his Broadway debut as Mary's Husband in Oh, Mary!, visited Late Night with Seth Meyers on Tuesday to discuss the hit play and his experience in the production. In addition to his Broadway debut, this is also his first time in a play since high school.
"I love the feeling of when it's backstage and you're running around...it really feels like you're putting on the show," Nanjiani said of the production. "The hardest thing I learned was, in between scenes, they turn all the lights off. And you then have to find your way out to backstage. That's by far the hardest part of acting!"
He went on to describe the difficulty of learning and performing lines onstage, as opposed to in screen projects. "I was so scared of forgetting my lines, and then I did. I had a scene where two lines I completely forgot," he admitted. "Jinkx was my scene partner, and she just picked it up and carried me through and did it...And then in this next scene, it happened again!" Check out the full interview now.
Alongside Jinkx Monsoon in the role of Mary Todd Lincoln, Nanjiani, Urie, and Jenn Harris are currently starring in Oh, Mary! for performances through September 28 at the historic Lyceum Theatre. It was recently announced that Tony Award winner Jane Krakowski will take over the role of Mary Todd Lincoln for a limited eight-week engagement beginning October 14.
Written by Tony Award-winner Cole Escola, and directed by Tony Award-winner Sam Pinkleton, Oh, Mary! opened on Broadway on July 11, 2024 at the Lyceum Theatre, where it became the first show in the theater’s 121-year history to gross more than $1,000,000 in a single week. Oh, Mary! has since broken its own box office record twelve times, and became the first show of the 2024-25 Broadway season to recoup its investment. Oh, Mary! is produced on Broadway by Kevin McCollum & Lucas McMahon and Mike Lavoie & Carlee Briglia.
