Tan France hid an injury on set of “Queer Eye ”after cameo as a brutal drug lord on “Deli Boys”: 'It was so worth it'

From fashion expert to drug lord: Tan France makes his scripted television debut on the wildly entertaining new series Deli Boys.

The Hulu comedy from creator Abdullah Saeed centers on two pampered Pakistani-American brothers (played by Asif Ali and Saagar Shaikh) who must reckon with their late father’s life of crime after his passing. Their Baba, a convenience store magnate, had been using the stores as a front for cocaine distribution, and the brothers find themselves reluctant heirs of the criminal dynasty. France, best known as style expert on the hit makeover show Queer Eye, does a career 360 as Zubair, the leader of a rival cocaine gang who arrives from London in search of his missing cousin.

“I had, no joke, the best experience of my career doing this,” France tells Entertainment Weekly ahead of the premiere. “This challenged me in ways that I never expected."

France’s cameo allowed him to flex new creative muscles, including stunt work. Surprise: the ambassador of the French tuck has a fight scene with costar and pal Poorna Jagannathan. France, who has been boxing since childhood, was thrilled to do his own stunts — even if it meant sustaining an injury prior to returning to the Queer Eye set. He shot his cameo last year, during his days off from filming season 9. “There's a part where I throw her off the bed and I roll off the bed,” recalls France. “No one knows this, I didn't want anyone to think I was weak: I really hurt my wrist. I had a bruised wrist for a few days when I went back. I stacked a load of bracelets, so you can’t see it. But it was so worth it!”

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The Fab Five “couldn’t believe it” when France showed them his episode during one of their recent “The Fab Five Live!” tour stops. “They were all in the green room, hooting and hollering,” he says.

At the heart of Deli Boys is the story of family and the relationship between Ali and Shaikh’s disparate brothers, inspired by Saeed’s relationship with his own Pakistani-American brothers. “The thing that binds brothers, especially in immigrant families, is this deep love that is so fundamental it's sort of forgotten about all the time,” Saeed tells EW. “That bond is there that will never break.”

France was floored by the world, inhabited by multidimensional South Asian characters, Saeed created. “It gives a window into our world,” says France. “Not the mob boss world, just the fully formed characters — that we are funny, dramatic, angry, that we are full people. I'd never seen anything like that done before. They sent me an outline of the show and I was like, this is wild that somebody's brazen enough to do this. Our shows don't get picked up like this. I was really proud.”

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Indeed, getting Deli Boys made was not without its roadblocks.  “We went everywhere,” says executive producer Jenni Konner. “Onyx [Collective, the company behind various Hulu originals] loved it. No one else did, but we wound up getting really lucky.” Though production was stalled — by the pandemic, then the dual strikes, then studio changes — “it was worth the wait,” she says. “It is very hard in this climate to get something made, but I think people respond to a really unique voice, and that's what this is.”

These days, there are "fewer and fewer opportunities for great voices to break through," adds fellow EP Michelle Nader. "That's sad. I think that's really what is going to be the key to building the business up again, is allowing these new voices in. People are just waiting for something fresh.”

France is thrilled to introduce audiences to a very different Tan France. (Note to casting directors: he’s game for more scripted roles. Seriously, have your people call his people.)  “Everyone expects Tan France to be walking, talking sunshine,” he says. “It's so rare that you see me without a smile on my face. I am a very jolly person, which drives my cast mates insane. I love that the audience will get to see this version of me and hopefully won't realize it's me for the first couple of scenes.”

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“When he walked in on set the first day and had his first lines, I looked at everybody, I was like, ‘He’s a star,’” recalls Nader. “I’m thrilled for people to see him this way.”

Adds Konner, “We know he’s very good at being Tan France, but he’s also very good at being this guy.”

“He played against type,” marvels Saeed. “I mean, he’s scary. Imagine Tan France being scary.”

Deli Boys is streaming on Hulu.

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