Most remembered for his roles in Harold & Kumar, and in Mira Nair’s The Namesake, Kal Penn’s roots lie in India, a country he deeply loves. In Rajasthan recently for the Jaipur Literature Festival, the actor, author and former White House staff member in the Barack Obama administration, spoke about his acting projects and books in the pipeline.
Excerpts from the interview:
Do you visit India often and is there something you’d like to do in India?
I’m here usually at least twice a year, a combination of family and taking meetings. I’ve worked here a little bit. A good chunk of The Namesake was shot here and then I did Bhopal: Prayer for Rain for Amazon Prime Video.
I love working here and would love to continue doing that. I watch a lot of Hindi content, including films by Karan Johar and Zoya Akhtar. I love shows such as Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah. I speak Gujarati and English and I’m constantly learning Hindi.
There was a show called Saath Nibhana Saathiya which was also available in the USA. It was sub-titled and then I just got hooked on the whole Kokila Ben-Saas-Bahu thing! Like you’re washing your laptop, girl? Come on! It’s addictive. So, you know I’m down for those cameos too (laughs).
Your memoir You Can’t Be Serious was published two years ago. What made you write it?
When I left my job at the White House a decade ago, my manager said ‘Do you realise nobody’s ever gone from acting to working in politics? You should write a book!’ I said, well, Arnold Schwarzenegger is the governor of California (laughs). On a serious note, the reason I worked in public service for two-and-half years has nothing to do with me being an actor, and I certainly didn’t do it to write a book. But as the years went on, I realised there is an opportunity to tell a story that I wish I had the chance to read when I was in my 20s.
The book should be something that you can just laugh at if you’re reading it, but there should also be a subtext that has some meaning on how systems in Hollywood and in Washington can change. I wrote the book for all those reasons.
What did you hope readers took from it?
I love memoirs that just make me laugh, first and foremost. But I think the second part of the reason to write the book is that I wanted to talk about things such as benchmarks in Hollywood and how those change. When I started, there weren’t a whole lot of people who looked like me.
I stand on the shoulders of people like Sarita Choudhury and Ajay Naidu. I had the chance to work with Mira Nair. I didn’t need to see my face on a bookshelf, but if people like the story and want to read it, that’s great.
Do you feel encouraged looking at the number of Indian-American actors now?
I feel incredibly encouraged. In the USA, we have such a true diaspora of South Asian actors. The roles are well-written and grounded in ways that in the 90s and early 2000s, you couldn’t do for various reasons.
It’s wonderful to meet these younger writers and actors, to celebrate them and then to convince them to put me in their movies! (laughs)
You were most known for your role in Harold & Kumar, but are you happy that people now recognise you for many other roles as well?
What I love most about my job is being able to play different characters, especially the ones who are so different from me. It’s remarkable any time I hear that somebody watched a movie I did because they liked Harold & Kumar, even though they knew the type of movie was totally different. It’s the beauty and joy of what I do and I love it so much. It makes the world feel smaller and as polarised as things are, I think comedy and film is still one of the few things we have that we can enjoy together and there’s a magic to that that I hope I never get tired of.
Any other books in the pipeline?
There are a couple of stories that I have, both fiction and non-fiction, that I’m hoping to get off the ground.
