Kalpesh Suresh Modi is an Indian American actor and producer, best known by his stage name Kal Penn, who is swiftly changing the racial landscape of Hollywood. Born first generation Indo-American in Montclair, New Jersey, the 31 year-old, Penn has been called “The Next Tom Hanks” by the Boston Globe and “the world’s most famous Indian-American actor” by New York magazine. He is most well known for his roles in the Harold and Kumar franchise, the star of The Namesake, and as a co-star on Fox’s House. Named one of People’s Top 50 Bachelors, Penn also teaches two courses at the University of Pennsylvania on Asian-Americans in pop culture and on the history of teen movies.
Penn’s parents emigrated from Mumbai, India with little money and hoped their first-born son would eventually become a doctor or lawyer. However, Penn had the desire and drive to pursue his dream of acting. He attended the Freehold Regional High School for Programming Arts in Englishtown and then joined the theatre program at the University of California in Los Angeles. Breaking into Hollywood as a leading actor has always been difficult, but for Asians it has been almost impossible. After university, Penn began submitting his headshots and attending auditions. There have been many opportunities for Indian actors to play cab drivers or medical students with thick accents. The response was unfavourable, which did not change until Penn’s agent persuaded him to Anglicize his name. Soon a few small opportunities came slowly like appearing in episodes of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch; Spin City; the movie, American Desi; and National Lampoon’s Van Wilder. Penn’s big break was Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, a teen comedy where the main characters indulge in drugs, crave White Castle hamburgers, and endure a wild journey of self-discovery. The film garnered a widespread cult fan base and in the hearts and minds of a generation, Penn will forever be known as Kumar.
The actor thinks on a deeper level regarding his role as Kumar, “I like how the Harold & Kumar storyline was written. If you take nothing away from it other than the fact that it is two guys who smoke drugs and go on a journey then that is fine. But in reality, it is written with very particular subtleties in mind, it is very subversive politically and that is all done on purpose, unlike a lot of other broad comedies. If part of the audience walks away realizing all of these literary references that are in the film and all these political references that are in the film and that is kind of cool to me. I enjoy playing with that kind of stuff.” The actor reveals that he has had glimpses into the darker side of the entertainment industry. “Like many industries it is difficult and is full of prejudices and comically misguided casting agents, who have made snide comments like “Where’s your turban?” “Being an actor is tough no matter your ethnic background, but adding race to the game makes things hundreds of times harder. There was not and still is not relatively, much support for the arts in the South Asian American community. Things are certainly changing in Hollywood, but the more writers and directors the community can produce, the faster these changes will take place I think. “Although, it is clearly evident the actor has preserved through any negativity to come on top.
The actor went back to his roots in the movie, The Namesake where he played the main character, Gogol. There were some obvious similarities between Penn and the character – both were Americans born to Indian-American parents and both were bilingual. Penn states after reading the book and script for The Namesake, it appealed to him much the same way as The Catcher in the Rye, “it had vivid characters that were relatable to the reader because of the human elements of the story.” The entire process of acting in The Namesake was memorable to the actor, “it is the most challenging and my favorite project I have had he chance to work on so far.” He found working with Director Mira Nair rewarding because of her ability to tell a story and convey the human spirit in such a unique and positive way. “The experience I had working on the film showed me that it was possible to tell a refined, compelling story that is as universal as it is personal.”After his role in The Namesake, Penn has been working nonstop in movies and television such as, Superman Returns, 24, Van Wilder 2, and Harold & Kumar 2. As for Bollywood, Penn is an avid fan of Hindi films. “I love watching films and some of my favorite Bollywood films, include Mr. & Mrs. Iyer, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, 1942 – A Love Story and Don. As far as actors go, of course Amitabh Bachchan is a given. I am a big fan of Kajol as well. I also like Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Rani Mukerji, and Preity Zinta.”
The actor’s goal was never only to do broad comedies and feels that his draw to acting is because of the story telling element and would like to continue to do some smart broad comedies, but also more dramatics. This reasoning may be why he is currently a co-star in the Fox series, House. Penn feels his role in the hit television show is compelling, “I like roles that I think are interesting and would argue up until ‘The Namesake’ I did not have the luxury of being as picky as a lot of people assume you can be as an actor. I am still considered a relatively newer actor. I mean I have only had a lot of regular work for maybe the past two or three years and it is just now that I am starting to be able to be a lot more choosy with projects and to me whether it is a film or whether it is a TV show is if it is the right story for me.”
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