Kal Penn

Kal Penn’s original name is Kalpen Suresh Modi. The actor is highly recognized by his stage name Kal Penn. He is one of the famous half-Indian actors in the Hollywood. The actor was born in New Jersey on 23rd April 1977. Kal Penn’s parents were Gujarati immigrants from India. He was raised in a typical Indian family, and his parents wanted to become a doctor or engineer. But Kal Penn’s destiny took him on the stage. He went to Freehold Regional High School District’s Performing Arts High School where he became the part of the school’s theater productions. After completing his senior year at the school; he enrolled in the University of California to complete his education and majored in film and sociology.

During 1990’s while he was still performing in various school productions he made guest roles on the television series which includes “Spin City,” “Sabrina,” “The Teenage Witch” and “Buffy the Vampire.” He was not offered with a variety of roles. Hence, the actor modified his name from Kalpen Suresh Modi to Kal Penn. Penn motioned in his biography that the decision for anglicizing his name helped to escalate his job offers by 50 percent.

In the year 1998, he made the debut on the big screen from “Express: Aisle to Glory.” Later in the year 2001, he acted in “American Desi” which was a film filled with comedy and romance. He also acted in “National Lampoon’s Van Wilder.” Penn was able to create his identity on the screen in “Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle” where he played an Indian American Student in 2004. He played in the sequel of the series “Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay” in 2008 and “A Very Merry Harold and Kumar 3-d Christmas” in 2011. Besides these roles, in 2006, Penn also offered a supporting role as Stanford in “Superman Returns.”

He played as Ahmed Amar in the sixth season of 24. Firstly, he rejected the role considering that it supported racial profiling, but later he accepted the role. In the year 2007, he acted in the FOX’s medical drama “House” where he starred as Dr. Lawrence Kutner and continues to appear its two seasons. He gained a lot of popularity from this medical drama. He made an appearance in a couple of other television series such as “ER,””Laws & Order: Special Victims Unit” and also “How I Met Your Mother.”

Kal Penn is also actively involved in politics. In the year 2009, he was even appointed as the Associate Director of White House Office of Public Engagement. He resigned the post in 2010 to make a comeback in his acting career. He completed the “Harold and Kumar” trilogy after taking a break from his political career. During his political career, he offered his services to the Asian-American and Pacific Islander communities as a liaison. Later he rejoined his political post in November 2010. The famous actor and politician have managed to keep his personal life a very low profile. There is no news about his wife, and the actor is still unmarried. He has the net worth of $15 million dollars.

Related Biographies