Everything about Kal Penn totally explained
Kalpen Suresh Modi (
Hindi: कल्पेन सुरेश मोदी; born
April 23,
1977), known by his
stage name Kal Penn (
Hindi: काल पेन) is an Indian American
actor and producer. He is known for his starring roles in
National Lampoon's Van Wilder,
Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle,
The Namesake (2007), and the recently released
Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay (2008). He currently plays the role of
Dr. Kutner in the TV series
House.
Biography
Early life
Penn was born in
Montclair, New Jersey to an
engineer father and a mother who worked as a
fragrance evaluator for a perfume company; both of his parents were immigrants of
Indian
Gujarati ancestry. Penn is an alumnus and graduate of
Freehold Township High School, but is sometimes said to be a graduate of
Howell High School where he was active in the school's theater productions, and
The Fine and Performing Arts Specialized Learning Center for three years. He attended
UCLA where he double majored in
Film and
Sociology. While at UCLA, he was a founding member of the underground intellectual society, "
6 South". He also played a big role in the on-campus club, Sangam, which has also disbanded.
Career
Penn's feature film debut came in 1998 in . He has since appeared in
American Desi,
National Lampoon's Van Wilder,
Malibu's Most Wanted,
A Lot Like Love,
Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle,
Dude, Where's the Party?,
Love Don't Cost a Thing,
Superman Returns,,
Epic Movie,
The Namesake, and
Harold & Kumar 2. Penn was featured in the
The Lonely Island's rejected Awesometown MTV pilot
music video, along with his friend
Brandon Routh (who played
Superman in
Superman Returns).
Penn says that he chose the stage name Kal Penn (from Kalpen Suresh Modi) 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%. Penn has stated that he prefers his birth name and uses "Kal Penn" only for professional purposes.
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, stating, "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'd a chance to blow stuff up and take a family hostage. As an actor, why shouldn’t I've that opportunity? Because I'm brown and I should be scared about the connection between media images and people's thought processes?"
Also in January 2007, he appeared in the spoof comedy
Epic Movie as well as the television show, where he played a recognition-starved rapist and murderer. In May 2007, Penn received the Asian Excellence Award for Outstanding Actor for his performance in
The Namesake.
In fall 2007, Penn joined the cast of the
FOX medical drama
House as one of
Dr. House's new fellowship applicants. According to E!, Penn has 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.
In spring 2008, Penn served as visiting lecturer in Asian American Studies at the
University of Pennsylvania. He taught a course titled “Images of Asian Americans in the Media”.
Personal life
In 2008, Penn campaigned for
Senator Barack Obama's
presidential bid with
House co-star
Olivia Wilde. He appears in the Obama video,
Si Se Puede Cambiar by
Andres Useche. Penn is also a noted
vegetarian, this is noted as for filming of
Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle, technicans made veggie castles for him for the burger scenes.
Penn was a guest professor at the
University of Pennsylvania in the spring of 2008. His students say that he refuses to be called "Kal Penn" but rather "Professor Modi" as it's a sign of disrespect. Although he's a well known actor on film, at
UPenn, he's as strict as any other professor. (http://media.www.dailypennsylvanian.com/media/storage/paper882/news/2007/03/26/News/Kal-Penn.To.Teach.At.Penn.In.Spring.08-2791353.shtml)
Filmography
Further Information
Get more info on 'Kal Penn'.
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