Kal Penn, who you know from such movies as Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle,Van Wilder: The Rise of Taj, House, and 24, has left acting to work for the Obama Administration.
Penn will serve as associate director in the White House Office of Public Liason. The 31 year-old former actor will be an ambassador to the Asian-American and Pacific Islander communities.
Kal Penn, who was born in New Jersey as Kalpen Suresh Modi, mentioned in Nirali Magazine that he shortened his name, “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."
If you've seen any of Penn's movies, you know that he was usually typecast as a pseudo-intellectual pothead. Penn played more conservative roles in television, appearing in House and 24. The actor's final episode of House, his most recent reocurring role, came as a shock to those who regularly watch the highly rated program. Penn's character, Kutner, committed suicide in this week's episode.
It's interesting that President Obama would choose someone who will undoubtedly be an easy target for adversaries of the current administration. Even fictional potheads make easy targets for anti-Obama pundits. C'mon Rush, give Kal a break- he was on 24 and I KNOW you love you some Jack Bauer.
This was a rock star move for a rock star president who today ended his world tour. Penn is a popular figure among college kids and twenty-somethings whose broad appeal will likely help to keep America's youth tuned in to politics.
For more on Penn, check out nydailynews.com.
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