Big Bang Theory star Kunal Nayyar, who in the 2010s was twice ranked the world’s third-highest-paid TV actor, revealed in a recent interview that he uses his earnings to make donations on GoFundMe.
“Money has given me greater freedom and the greatest gift is the ability to give back, to change people’s lives,” the 44-year-old BAFTA nominee told British outlet The i Paper. “What I really love to do is go on GoFundMe at night and just pay random families’ medical bills. That’s my masked vigilante thing!”
Nayyar shared that as dog lovers, he and his fashion designer wife, Neha Kapur, also put their money toward animal charities, in addition to funding college scholarships for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Nayyar starred as Raj Koothrappali on all 279 episodes of “The Big Bang Theory,” which aired from 2007 to 2019 and won 10 Emmy Awards.
In 2015, Nayyar’s US$20mil earnings resulted in him being tied with his castmate Simon Helberg and NCIS star Mark Harmon as the third-highest-paid male actor on TV, according to Forbes. He and Helberg again tied for third in 2018, with US$23.5mil.
Nayyar said that while he knows most people don’t have the luxury to donate money in the way that he can, everyone can find ways to help those less fortunate.
“We are expecting a president or a politician, some leader, to come and bring us world peace,” he told The i Paper.
“But there is no world peace if your neighbour comes to your door wanting some sugar for their tea, and you lock it against them. … No one is going to come and change the world for you. You have to do it for yourself.” – New York Daily News/Tribune News Service
