Biography for
Kal Penn

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Date of Birth

23 April 1977, Montclair, New Jersey, USA

Birth Name

Kalpen Suresh Modi

Nickname

K-Kal
Hollywood

Height

5' 10" (1.78 m)

Trivia

Born in New Jersey, now resides in L.A.

He and the other students were banned from using the word "like" in his acting classes, this was to make them sound more intelligent during auditions.

He attended the Fine and Performing Arts Center at Howell High School in Farmingdale, New Jersey where he went though an intense study of the arts in acting, dance/movement, and vocal training.

Once directed Jason Allentoff in a short film for a college project.

Is a vegetarian, contrary to the role that he plays in Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004).

Met future Where's the Party Yaar? (2003) co-star Datta Dave and Dave's current financial adviser Mihir Upadhyaya during college at UCLA. He assisted Dave in his pursuit of an acting career.

Has one younger brother.

His father is an engineer and his mother, who has a master's in chemistry, worked as a fragrance evaluator for a perfume company.

When he was in 8th grade he was in a school production of the musical "The Wiz".

Is of Gujarati Indian descent.

Although he attended Howell High School's performing arts program, he later transferred to Freehold Township (NJ) High School, where he graduated in 1995.

Lives in same Los Angeles apartment building as director 'Leon Shanglebee'.

Attended UCLA.

Began using the name Kal Penn, a variation on his first name Kalpen, to get more roles; he believed that his difficult foreign name would scare away potential employers.

Is the first Indian-American actor to have a successful career in mainstream Hollywood.

Was offered a part in "Planet Terror," the Robert Rodriguez segment of Grindhouse (2007), but turned it down due to the conflicting shoot of The Namesake (2006).

His favorite book is "The Namesake" and used to check into hotels under the pseudonym of "Gogol Ganguli", the lead character of the book. When found out that Mira Nair was making a film out of it, despite her having already cast an actor in the part, Penn lobbied for the role and eventually won it.

Studied acting under the same teacher (Reynold Forman) as Anthony Bradford.

Personal Quotes

[in New York Magazine, commenting about his recurring role as a terrorist on TV's "24" (2001)] 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?

Where Are They Now

(October 2002) L.A.

(January 2008) Currently teaches a course at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA. The course is entitled "Asian-Americans in the Media".

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