Kal Penn

Last updated

Kal Penn
Kal Penn, Office of Public Engagement.jpg
Penn in January 2013
Born
Kalpen Suresh Modi

(1977-04-23) April 23, 1977 (age 46)
Montclair, New Jersey, U.S.
Education University of California, Los Angeles (BA)
Occupations
  • Actor
  • author
Years active1998–present
Political party Democratic
PartnerJosh (2010–present)

Kalpen Suresh Modi (born April 23, 1977), known professionally as Kal Penn, is an American actor, author, and former White House staff member in the Barack Obama administration. As an actor he is known for his portrayals of Lawrence Kutner on the television program House , White House staffer Seth Wright on Designated Survivor , Kevin, a psychologist and boyfriend to Robin in How I Met Your Mother , and Kumar Patel in the Harold & Kumar film series. He is also recognized for his performance in the film The Namesake . Penn once taught at the University of Pennsylvania in the Cinema Studies Program as a visiting lecturer.

Contents

In April 2009, Penn joined the Obama administration as an associate director in the White House Office of Public Engagement as liaison for outreach to AAPI and arts communities. [1] [2] This necessitated that his TV character, Lawrence Kutner, be written out of House. [2] [3] Penn briefly left his post in June 2010 to film the third installment of the Harold & Kumar series, A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas , [4] returning to his White House job upon the movie's completion. [5] In July 2011, he again left the White House to accept a role in the television series How I Met Your Mother. [6]

From 2016 to 2019, he played Seth Wright in the political drama Designated Survivor , where he also served as a consultant on the show. [7] Additionally, he served as host of the game show Superhuman . In 2019, Penn portrayed Garrett Modi in the NBC sitcom series Sunnyside . The following year he went on to host a political talk miniseries on Freeform called Kal Penn Approves This Message .

Early life and education

Penn was born as Kalpen Suresh Modi (Gujarati : કલ્પેન સુરેશ મોદી) in Montclair, New Jersey on April 23, 1977, to Hindu Indian immigrant parents from Gujarat. [8] [9] His mother, Asmita Bhatt, is a fragrance evaluator for a perfume company, and his father, Suresh Modi, is an engineer. His father is from Kheda and his mother was born in Vadodara. [10] [11] [12] Kal Penn regularly visited Gujarat as a child during vacations, and he can speak some Gujarati as well as some Hindi. [13] He has stated that stories of his grandparents marching with Mahatma Gandhi during the Indian independence movement were a significant influence on his interest in politics. [14]

Kal Penn attended Marlboro Middle School in Marlboro Township, New Jersey, where he played baritone saxophone in the jazz band. For high school he attended Freehold Township High School for all four years where he was enrolled in the International Studies Program the first two years. His Junior and Senior years he attended The Fine and Performing Arts Center (a magnet program) at Howell High School in the Acting program (FPAC is a part time program, so he was bused between schools). Both schools are part of the Freehold Regional High School District in New Jersey. He was active in the schools' theater productions and competed on the Freehold Township National Honor Society Speech and Debate team (formerly known as Forensics). He then attended UCLA, where he double majored in film and sociology, graduating with a B.A. in 2000. [15]

Career

Acting career

Penn's feature film debut came in 1998 in Express: Aisle to Glory . He has since appeared in American Desi , Van Wilder , the final episode of The Lonely Island , Malibu's Most Wanted , A Lot Like Love , Dude, Where's the Party? , Love Don't Cost a Thing , Superman Returns , Epic Movie , The Namesake , the Harold & Kumar series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer , Angel (TV Series) ,and an uncredited appearance in Deck the Halls .

Penn says that he derived his acting name, Kal Penn, as a lark: "Almost as a joke to prove friends wrong, and half as an attempt to see if what I was told would work (that anglicized names appeal more to a white-dominated industry), I put 'Kal Penn' on my resume and photos." His audition callbacks rose by 50 percent.[ citation needed ] He has stated that he prefers his birth name and uses "Kal Penn" only for professional purposes.[ citation needed ]

In January 2007, Penn appeared in the first four episodes of the sixth season of 24 as Ahmed Amar, a teenage terrorist. Penn says he nearly turned down the role due to personal ethics:

I have a huge political problem with the role. It was essentially accepting a form of racial profiling. I think it's repulsive. But it was the first time I had a chance to blow stuff up and take a family hostage. As an actor, why shouldn't I have that opportunity? Because I'm brown and I should be scared about the connection between media images and people's thought processes? [16]

Also in January 2007, he appeared in the spoof comedy Epic Movie as well as the television show Law & Order: Special Victims Unit . In May 2007, Penn received the Asian Excellence Award for Outstanding Actor for his performance in The Namesake . [17] In fall 2007, Penn joined the cast of the Fox medical drama House as a fellowship applicant. [18] E! reported that Penn had signed on as a regular on the show along with Olivia Wilde and Peter Jacobson and this was confirmed in the plot of the episode "Games". Penn continued with the series through to the episode "Simple Explanation", which aired April 6, 2009. He made an additional appearance as Lawrence Kutner on the fifth-season finale, "Both Sides Now", that aired on May 11, 2009. However, due to his new job at the White House, Penn could not be present for the filming of this episode. The clip of him saying "Too bad it isn't true" was taken from a previous filming. Penn returned to the show for the series finale. [19]

In addition to his role on the TV series House , he is best known for his role in Harold & Kumar , as Kumar Patel, a pothead who goes with Harold Lee (John Cho) to White Castle for a hamburger. Unlike his character, he does not smoke marijuana, saying it is not for him, [20] nor does he eat meat.

Penn had a recurring role on How I Met Your Mother for the seventh season of the show, [21] in which he played Kevin, a therapist and later boyfriend of Robin Scherbatsky. Starting May 1, 2013, Penn hosted Big Brain Theory: Pure Genius on the Discovery Channel. [22] In 2013, Penn joined the cast of We Are Men . [23]

In 2014, he was cast in Ravi Kumar's film Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain , a film about the Bhopal gas tragedy, considered by many to be the world's worst industrial disaster. Penn played Detective Fontanelle White [24] on the CBS comedy-drama Battle Creek, which was canceled during its first season.

In October 2016, Penn began a regular role in the ABC drama series Designated Survivor as Seth Wright, a White House speech writer who originally worked under the previous president's administration. Following the death of the White House Press Secretary in the pilot episode and the acting press secretary walking out on the job, his character gets promoted to Press Secretary. [7] Penn also served as a political consultant for the series. The show was renewed by Netflix for a third season which was released on June 7, 2019. [25]

Penn has expressed some interest in working in Indian cinema, particularly in Gujarati cinema. [13]

On March 7, 2019, Penn was cast in the main role of Garrett Modi on the NBC comedy Sunnyside [26] and the series was ordered on May 6, 2019. [27] The show was cancelled after eight episodes were produced.

On May 9, 2020, Penn was cast as a lead on the 2021 CBS thriller drama series Clarice, a sequel to The Silence of the Lambs . [28]

On December 2, 2021, Penn was set to produce and star in the biopic Superfan which depicts the story of Nav Bhatia. [29]

In 2022, he was cast as Simon Choksi/Santa on The Santa Clauses, for which he received a nominations for the Outstanding Supporting Performance at the 2nd Children's and Family Emmy Awards. [30]

In 2023, Penn guest starred in the Netflix animated series Scott Pilgrim Takes Off. [31]

Political activities

Kal Penn speaking at a rally for President Barack Obama at the University of Maryland's Nyumburu Cultural Center. Kal Penn at UMD 2008.JPG
Kal Penn speaking at a rally for President Barack Obama at the University of Maryland's Nyumburu Cultural Center.

Penn was an advocate for Barack Obama's presidential campaign in 2007 and 2008 and a member of Obama's National Arts Policy Committee. [32] He appears in the Barack Obama-supporting video "Sí Se Puede Cambiar" by Andres Useche [33] and appeared with comedian George Lopez on January 18, 2009, at "We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial".

In early 2009, Penn was offered the position of Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs, which he accepted. This necessitated his character Lawrence Kutner being written out of the TV series House. [2] [3] [34] In his new role with the Obama administration, Penn served as a liaison with the Asian-American and Pacific Islander communities. [35] He went back to using his birth name, Kalpen Modi. [36]

Having made a commitment before his employment at the White House, Penn left his post as Obama's associate director of public engagement on June 1, 2010, to return to his acting career. [4] He returned to office on November 15, 2010, following completion of A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas . [37]

Penn was a co-chair of Obama's reelection campaign. [38] On September 3, 2012, he hosted coverage of the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. [39] Penn's speech at the convention encouraged young people to register to vote and defended Obama's record. [40] [41]

On November 18, 2013, Obama appointed Penn to serve on the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities. [42] On February 28, 2014, Penn served as the Master of Ceremonies for the White House Student Film Festival. [43]

Penn publicly supported Bernie Sanders for the 2016 Democratic nomination. He campaigned for Hillary Clinton after she became the nominee. [44]

In August 2017, Penn and the other members of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities resigned in protest of President Donald Trump's remarks about the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. [45]

During the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries, Penn expressed interest in the messages of Pete Buttigieg, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren. [46] He later expressed support for Joe Biden after he became the nominee.

Other ventures

In 2008, Penn served as a visiting lecturer in Asian American Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. [15] [47] His course was titled "Images of Asian Americans in the Media". [48] [49]

In 2014, Penn was working on a graduate certificate in international security from Stanford University. [2] [15] [50] [51]

On January 2, 2017, Penn won the "MasterChef Celebrity Showdown" and donated the $25,000 cash prize to UNRWA, a United Nations relief and human development agency that supports Palestinian refugees. [52] On January 28, 2017, following a racist comment from a user on Penn's Twitter feed, Penn crowd-funded a fundraiser for refugees of the Syrian Civil War and raised $813,533. [53] This occurred during President Donald Trump's Executive Order 13769, which banned immigration to the United States from Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Iran, Iraq, Libya, and Somalia regardless of visa status. [54]

Personal life

Penn is Hindu. [55] [56] In October 2021, while promoting his memoir, You Can't Be Serious, Penn announced that he and his boyfriend of 11 years, named Josh, were engaged. [57] [58] In regard to his sexual orientation, Penn said that he had "discovered [his] own sexuality relatively late in life compared to many other people." However, he feels that "there's no timeline on this stuff. People figure their shit out at different times in their lives, so I'm glad I did when I did." [59]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1998 Express: Aisle to Glory Jackie Newton
1999FreshmanAjay
2001 American Desi Ajay Pandya
2002HectorKendal Cunningham
Van Wilder Taj Mahal Badalandabad
BadgerSanjay
2003 Cosmopolitan Vandana's Fiancé
Love Don't Cost a Thing Kenneth Warman
Malibu's Most Wanted Hadji
Dude, Where's the Party? Mohan "Mo" Bakshi
2004 Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle Kumar Patel
Ball & Chain Bobby
Homeland Security Harrison
2005 Dancing in Twilight Sam
Son of the Mask Jorge
A Lot like Love Jeeter
Sueño Raj
2006 Man About Town Alan Fineberg
Bachelor Party Vegas "Z-Bob"
The Namesake Gogol / Nikhil Ganguli
Superman Returns Stanford
Deck the Halls Amit Sayid
Van Wilder: The Rise of Taj Taj Mahal Badalandabad
2007 Epic Movie Edward Pervertski
2008 Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay Kumar Patel
Harold & Kumar Go to Amsterdam
2011 A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas
2013Triumph: The Lowell Pomerantz StoryJordan Tichenor
Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain Motwani
Dementamania Christian Van Burden
2014 The Sisterhood of Night Gordy Gambhir
2015 The Girl in the Photographs Peter Hemmings
2016 Better Off Single Brice
2017 Speech & Debate James
Once Upon a Time in Venice Rajeesh
The Layover Anuj [60]
2018 The Ashram Nitin [61]
2020The Girl in the Woods [62]
2021 Untitled Horror Movie Mark [63]
Hot Mess HolidayhimselfExecutive producer [64]
2022 Smile Dr. Morgan Desai
2024 The Underdoggs Ryan Kauffman

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1999BrookfieldKumar ZimmermanTV movie
Buffy the Vampire Slayer HuntEpisode: "Beer Bad"
2000 Sabrina the Teenage Witch PrajeebEpisode: "You Can't Twin"
Spin City BuddyEpisode: "The Spanish Prisoner"
2001 Angel Fez BoyEpisode: "That Vision Thing"
ER NarajanEpisode: "The Longer You Stay"
NYPD Blue Solomon Al-Ramai [65] Episode: "Baby Love"
The Agency MalekEpisode: "Rules of the Game"
2003 All About the Andersons DineshEpisode: "Pilot"
Tru Calling StevenEpisode: "Haunted"
The Lonely Island FredEpisode: "Regarding Ardy”
2006The Danny Comden ProjectMaxTV movie
2007 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Henry ChanoorEpisode: "Outsider"
24 Ahmed Amar 4 episodes
2007–2009, 2012 House Dr. Lawrence Kutner Main role (seasons 4–5); guest (season 8)
2011–2014 How I Met Your Mother Kevin10 episodes
2013 The Big Brain Theory Host8 episodes
We Are Men Gil Bartis7 episodes
2015 Battle Creek Detective Fontanelle White11 episodes
The Big Picture with Kal Penn Host12 episodes
2016 New Girl Tripp2 episodes
Sanjay and Craig Greg (Voice)Episode: "JJ and Greg"
Deadbeat Clyde13 episodes
2016–2019 Designated Survivor Seth WrightMain role
2016–2017 Superhuman Host
2018–2021 Fancy Nancy Mr. Ravi Singh / Mr. SinghVoice, 3 episodes [66]
2019 The Big Bang Theory Dr. Campbell3 episodes
This Giant Beast That Is the Global EconomyHost8 episodes
SpongeBob SquarePants HimselfEpisode: "SpongeBob's Big Birthday Blowout"
Sunnyside Garrett ModiMain role
Also executive producer
2020 It's Pony FredVoice
Blue's Clues & You! HimselfEpisode: "Happy Birthday, Blue!"
Kal Penn Approves This Message Host6 episodes
2020–2021 Mira, Royal Detective MikkuMain role, voice
2021 Clarice Shaan TripathiMain role, 10 episodes
PsBattles Live1 episode [67]
2021–presentMoney HungryHimselfHost
2022 American Horror Story: NYC Mac MarzaraSeason 11
The Santa Clauses Simon ChoksiMain role [68] [69]
2023 The Daily Show Guest Host8 Episodes (Week of Mar. 13 [70] and Dec. 11 [71] )
Scott Pilgrim Takes Off LawyerEpisode: "A League of Their Own"

See also

Related Research Articles

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References

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  2. 1 2 3 4 Ausiello, Michael (April 7, 2009). "'House' exclusive: The shocking story behind last night's big death". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on April 8, 2009. Retrieved April 7, 2009.
  3. 1 2 "It'll be the White House for Kal Penn now". Rediff.com . April 7, 2009.
  4. 1 2 Roberts, Roxanne; Argetsinger, Amy (June 22, 2010). "Kalpen Modi, aka Kal Penn, aka Kumar, leaves the White House, returns to showbiz". The Washington Post . Retrieved June 23, 2010.
  5. ↑ "Kalpen Modi Returns To White House Job After Leaving To Film 'Harold & Kumar' Sequel". The Note blog. ABC News. November 15, 2010. Archived from the original on May 12, 2011. Retrieved November 17, 2010.
  6. ↑ "Kal Penn to leave White House again". Click blog. Politico. July 14, 2011. Retrieved June 14, 2013.
  7. 1 2 Andreeva, Nellie (February 5, 2016). "'Designated Survivor' Casts Kal Penn, Maggie Q, Natascha McElhone, Italia Ricci". Deadline .
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  12. ↑ Stated on Finding Your Roots , January 29, 2019, PBS
  13. 1 2 Mishra, Abhimanyu (January 13, 2017). "I remember my visits to Gujarat as a kid: Kal Penn". The Times of India.
  14. ↑ "LOHANA HISTORY". Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire Lohana Community. LCND. Archived from the original on May 31, 2020. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
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  27. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (May 7, 2019). "Drama 'Bluff City Law' Starring Jimmy Smits & Kal Penn Comedy 'Sunnyside' Picked Up To Series By NBC". Deadline .
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  30. ↑ Coates, Tyler. "Children's & Family Emmy Awards: Disney Dominates Nominations". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  31. ↑ White, Abbey (November 18, 2023). "'Scott Pilgrim Takes Off': Meet the Anime's Complete Voice Cast". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 18, 2023.
  32. ↑ Penn, Kal (May 11, 2008). "Open Letter to Two Undeclared College Superdelegates". The Huffington Post . Retrieved April 7, 2009.
  33. ↑ Joshi, Monika (February 4, 2008). "Actor Kal Penn roots for Obama". Rediff.com . Retrieved April 7, 2009.
  34. ↑ "Kal Penn Leaves House for the White House". Tvguide.com. April 7, 2009. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
  35. ↑ "'House' actor Kal Penn joins White House team". Yahoo! News. AP News. April 7, 2009. Retrieved June 14, 2013.
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  38. ↑ "Obama campaign announces co-chairs". Politico. February 22, 2012. Retrieved May 6, 2013.
  39. ↑ "Watch the 2012 Democratic National Convention Live on BarackObama.com". BarackObama.com YouTube channel. September 3, 2012. Archived from the original on December 22, 2021. Retrieved May 6, 2013.
  40. ↑ Wing, Nick (September 4, 2012). "Kal Penn Speech At Democratic Convention: My Four-Letter Word Is 'Vote'". HuffPost . Retrieved September 8, 2012.
  41. ↑ "Kal Penn's DNC Speech". The Daily Conversation's YouTube Channel. September 4, 2012. Archived from the original on December 22, 2021. Retrieved May 6, 2013.
  42. ↑ "Kal Penn appointed to rejoin Obama team". The Hill . November 18, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  43. ↑ "Students Are Stars at White House Film Festival". NBC News . February 28, 2014. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  44. ↑ "Quirky caucuses pose organizational challenge for Sanders". Business Insider. Retrieved February 10, 2016.
  45. ↑ O'Keefe, Ed (August 18, 2017). "Members of White House presidential arts commission resigning to protest Trump's comments". The Washington Post . Retrieved August 18, 2017.
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  48. ↑ "Asian American Studies Program at University of Pennsylvania". Asam.sas.upenn.edu. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
  49. ↑ Penn, Kal (July 2, 2010). "The 'Hilarious' Xenophobia of Time's Joel Stein". HuffPost .
  50. ↑ "Kal Penn to Address Class of 2014 at May's 175th Annual Commencement". DePauw University. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  51. ↑ "Kal Penn '00". UCLA Alumni.
  52. ↑ "Kal Penn Wins 'MasterChef Celebrity Showdown', Prize Money to Support Palestinian Refugees through the UN". unrwa.org. United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. January 3, 2017. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
  53. ↑ "Kal Penn Raises Over $360,000 for Refugees in Response to Racist Tweet". EW.com. January 29, 2017. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
  54. ↑ Danner, Chas. "Judge Blocks Part of Trump's Ban on Citizens From 7 Muslim Nations and Refugees". New York Intelligencer . Retrieved January 30, 2017.
  55. ↑ "5 Hollywood Celebrities Who Changed Their Religion to Become Hindus". December 25, 2020. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  56. ↑ Bordwin, Erin (September 18, 2018). "'Harold and Kumar' actor Kal Penn shares why he backed the startup behind Silicon Valley's favorite 'bleeding' veggie burger, which is now at White Castle". Business Insider . Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  57. ↑ Warner, Kara (October 31, 2021). "Kal Penn Reveals He's Engaged to Fiancé Josh and Details Their First Date in New Book". People . Retrieved October 31, 2021.
  58. ↑ Williams, John (November 2, 2021). "'Maybe I Do Have a Story to Tell': Kal Penn on His Memoir". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 28, 2021. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
  59. ↑ Megan, Johnson (October 31, 2021). "Kal Penn is engaged to his partner of 11 years, Josh: 'I'm really excited to share our relationship'". Yahoo! News . Retrieved November 1, 2021.
  60. ↑ "The Layover Review". That Moment In. September 2, 2017. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
  61. ↑ McNary, Dave (March 31, 2016). "Melissa Leo, Kal Penn, Sam Keeley Starring in Fantasy-Thriller 'The Ashram'". Variety . Retrieved November 1, 2021.
  62. ↑ White, Peter (April 29, 2021). "'Girl In The Woods': Peacock Orders Supernatural Drama Based On Crypt TV IP, Krysten Ritter To Direct". Deadline . Retrieved November 1, 2021.
  63. ↑ Ramos, Dino-Ray (June 30, 2020). "Nick Simon Sets New Remotely-Filmed 'Untitled Horror Movie' Starring Luke Baines, Claire Holt, Darren Barnet, Emmy Raver-Lampman And Kal Penn". Deadline . Retrieved November 1, 2021.
  64. ↑ "POPxo Exclusive: Producer Melanie Chandra Talks About Her Show For Desi Women, Surina & Mel". POPxo. April 11, 2019. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
  65. ↑ "NYPD Blue" Baby Love (TV Episode 2001) - IMDb , retrieved December 18, 2022
  66. ↑ "Fancy Nancy". TVGuide.com. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
  67. ↑ White, Peter (October 18, 2021). "Reddit Moves Into Originals With Event Series 'PhotoshopBattles Live' From Bunim/Murray". Deadline . Retrieved November 1, 2021.
  68. ↑ Maas, Jennifer (March 3, 2022). "'Santa Clause' Series at Disney Plus Adds Kal Penn". Variety . Retrieved March 12, 2022.
  69. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (March 3, 2022). "Kal Penn Joins 'The Santa Clause' Disney+ Limited Series". Deadline . Retrieved March 3, 2022.
  70. ↑ "The Daily Show Guest Host Lineup". Comedy Central. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
  71. ↑ Steinberg, Brian (November 28, 2023). "Kal Penn, Charlamagne Tha God Return to 'Daily Show' Amid Search for New Host". Variety. Retrieved March 6, 2024.
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