The Big Sick vs the True Story of Emily Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani (2024)

Yes. "It was a lot like in the movie. She sort of woohoo-ed, heckled me at a comedy show," Kumail said with a smile during an interview with Fabulous TV. "That's how we meet in the movie, and that's how we met in real life too." He said that particular part of the movie is very close to the true story.

"The only difference is that instead of speaking that night after his set, we actually spoke a couple nights later," added Emily. "We kind of both looked for each other that night, but I had to go home or something, and so we ended up meeting a couple nights later."

"Our first date was at a restaurant right by my house," said Kumail.

"Kumail had asked me out and I said no," recalled Emily, "and then I texted him a couple days later and asked if we could just get a platonic dinner together, but it was a date. We both knew it was a date." -USA Today

Left: The real Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani, who portrays himself in the movie. Right: Actress Zoe Kazan and Kumail in the film.

Kumail Nanjiani as a boy in Pakistan. He came to America in 1997 for college.

Yes. In the movie, Kumail and Emily make a rule that they can see each other no more than two days in a row. When asked about it in an interview with Tribute Magazine, Kumail responded, "That is true. I don't know how she put up with it."

"It feels like the most made up thing [in the movie]," said the real Emily, "and it is absolutely true and somehow I put up with it."

Yes. The man crush is true. The real Emily V. Gordon said that Kumail definitely has a thing for Hugh Grant, as evidenced below. She said that he also enjoys romantic comedies, which she used to detest. In the interview, Kumail then began citing lines from some of his favorite Hugh Grant rom coms, including Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill. -Tribute Magazine

Kumail's man crush on Hugh Grant is real. He even tweeted a 2017 picture with the actor (bottom).

No. Unlike what's seen in the movie, the real Big Sick couple had not broken up before the real-life Emily went into her coma. They were still dating, but there was little thought of it turning into a lifelong relationship. Like in the film, the coma changed that. With regard to the movie's use of dramatic license in adding the break-up, the real Emily Gordon commented, "It's interesting to be at your casual girlfriend's side when she gets sick. But it's even more interesting to be at your recent ex-girlfriend's side." -Variety.com

The real Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon (top) were not broken up when she was in the medically-induced coma. Pictured at the bottom are Nanjiani and the onscreen Emily, portrayed by actress Zoe Kazan.

In 2007, Emily got a cold she couldn't shake. She largely ignored it, but found herself feeling exhausted and miserable. Eventually she started having trouble breathing and drove herself to a walk-in clinic. When she got back to the exam room they took her vitals and immediately fetched the doctor. She was in respiratory distress. An ambulance was called and the EMTs suggested they take her to the closest hospital due to the urgency of her condition. After arriving at the hospital, she still believed everyone was overreacting. She called Kumail and told him where she was but not to worry (in the movie, Emily's friend calls Kumail to let him know Emily is in the hospital). -LennyLetter.com

The following day Emily was put into a medically induced coma to prevent her from dying while the doctors had time to figure out what was wrong with her. She underwent lung surgery and ended up remaining in the hospital for almost a month. On day eight of her coma, she was diagnosed with adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD), a rare systemic auto-inflammatory disease that presents with high fevers, severe fatigue, joint pain, swollen lymph nodes, a salmon-pink rash, and in severe cases like Emily's, fluid accumulation in the lungs and heart. It can be managed once diagnosed and is first treated with steroids like prednisone.

"I have to sleep the right amount and exercise the right amount," says Emily, "and I still occasionally get flare-ups and have to stay in bed for a few days. But no more ICUs, which is pretty f***ing sweet." -NewYorker.com

No. The Big Sick is not based on a book. It is from an original screenplay by the movie's subjects, Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon. However, Gordon is a published author and a former couples and family therapist. She wrote the tongue-in-cheek self-help book Super You: Release Your Inner Superhero, published in 2015. The well-reviewed book is infused with humor and references to comics, video games and superheroes, just some of the things she often discussed on her podcast The Indoor Kids, which she hosted with her husband. She has also written for Hello Giggles, Huffington Post, The New York Times, Mashable, The Daily Beast, and Lenny.

The real Emily V. Gordon wrote the tongue-in-cheek self-help book Super You.

No. During an interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Kumail Nanjiani said that Emily's father never asked him what his feelings were on 9/11.

Emily was in a medically-induced coma for over eight days. -The View

The real Emily V. Gordon was put into a medically-induced coma for roughly eight days while doctors tried to figure out what was wrong with her.

Yes. The movie's portrayal of this seems to be pretty accurate, though slightly exaggerated. Kumail had previously promised them he would enter into an arranged marriage with a Pakistani woman. He avoided their calls for the first few days that Emily was in a coma, because he knew he would have to tell them he had a non-Muslim girlfriend. When he did finally take their call one night, he told them the truth and his mother actually became concerned for Emily, asking daily how she was doing (something the character doesn't do in the movie). However, when Emily came out of the coma and they found out she would be okay, Kumail's mother finally responded, "How could you do this to us?" -NewYorker.com

movie is availabe to watch here. Like in the film, Kumail's parents were upset he was dating a non-Muslim.

Yes. In the movie, one of the potential women Kumail's parents try to set him up with awkwardly reminds him that "the truth is out there," a reference to The X-Files TV show. While fact-checking The Big Sick movie, we discovered that Kumail's love for The X-Files goes much further than what is seen in the film. In 2014, he started hosting The X-Files Files, a podcast in which he and a guest analyze an episode of the show. Then in 2015 he got to guest star on an episode of The X-Files 6-part revival on FOX. Kumail tweeted, "I got to be in an ep of my favorite show (X Files) written & directed by my favorite writer (Darin Morgan.) And this script is wonderful." Kumail played an Animal Control Officer in episode 3, titled "Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster."

Kumail Nanjiani's love for The X-Files reached a crescendo when he guest starred on an episode of the 2015 X-Files revival on FOX.

"I became so fearless that I married my boyfriend in a manic haze three months after getting out of the hospital," says Emily (LennyLetter.com). Kumail and Emily married on July 14, 2007 at City Hall in Chicago, with six friends present as witnesses. They got matching tattoos because they didn't have money for wedding rings (Variety.com). Kumail had proposed to her with a $20 ring from Walmart. Emily first met Kumail's parents after the city hall nuptials (The View). Two weeks later, Kumail's parents held a Pakistani wedding for them in New Jersey. "I think that the ceremony was my mom's way of saying to Emily, even though you're not the bride I imagined, I'm trying my best to include you in the family." Kumail said. His mom gave Emily a collection of jewelry that she had been saving for Kumail's future wife. Emily and Kumail have been together ever since (NewYorker.com).

Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon on the day of their Pakistani wedding ceremony in the summer of 2007.

"No, not at all," said Emily, "because my husband is an actor and has been on many TV shows and movies, whereas I was the president of the thespian society in high school, but since then I've kind of hung up my acting shoes. ... So never at any point. I'm very happy to be a writer and kind of tell stories that way." In addition to being one of the movie's screenwriters along with her husband, Emily was on set every day of the New York shoot, as seen below. -Fabulous TV

Actress Zoe Kazan and her character's real-life counterpart, screenwriter Emily V. Gordon, on the set of The Big Sick movie.