My Take
Kal Penn is genuinely one of the more fascinating people to come out of Hollywood in the 2000s — and I mean that in the best possible way. He broke through as Kumar in the Harold & Kumar films, which honestly could have been a dead-end stoner-comedy box, but he turned it into a launching pad. Then he pulled off one of the most unexpected career pivots I've ever seen: he left a recurring role on House to go work for the Obama White House as an associate director in the Office of Public Engagement. He actually quit a hit TV show for a government job. Later he came back to TV with Designated Survivor and kept building his resume. Indian-American kid from New Jersey, UCLA grad, Harold & Kumar icon, Obama staffer — the combination is so distinctly American and so distinctly his own that I can't help but root for whatever he does next.
Overview
Kalpen Suresh Modi (Gujarati: કલ્પેન સુરેશ મોદી; 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 Kumar Patel in the Harold & Kumar film series, Lawrence Kutner on the television program House, White House staffer Seth Wright on Designated Survivor, and Kevin, a ps…
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Kal Penn
- Name (Japanese)
- カル・ペン
- Reading
- かる・ぺん
- Born
- April 23, 1977 (age 49)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Taurus / Snake
- Origin
- Montclair, New Jersey, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- actor / film producer / film actor / television actor / politician
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Howell High School
- University
- University of California, Los Angeles
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.