Kal Penn
Kalpen Suresh Modi (born April 23, 1977) is an American actor, author, comedian, and former White House staff member in the Obama administration. He is best known for his role as Kumar Patel in the Harold & Kumar movie franchise. He is also known for his roles as Lawrence Kutner on the television program House, White House staffer Seth Wright on Designated Survivor, Kevin in How I Met Your Mother and Nikhil Ganguli in the film The Namesake (2006). In early 2009, Penn was offered the position of Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs, which he accepted, necessitating his character Lawrence Kutner being written out of the TV series House. In 2020, Penn wrote a memoir called "You Can't Be Serious". While promoting this memoir, Penn announced that he and his boyfriend of 11 years, named Josh, were engaged
Known For
Credits
- 2023 · Scott Pilgrim Takes Off as Ventakish (voice)
- 2022 · Smile as Dr. Morgan Desai
- 2021 · Celebrity Wheel of Fortune as Self - Contestant
- 2020 · Who Wants to Be a Millionaire as Self - Contestant
- 2020 · Mira, Royal Detective as Mikku (voice)
- 2019 · A Little Late with Lilly Singh as Self
- 2019 · The Kelly Clarkson Show as Self
- 2019 · The Kelly Clarkson Show as Self - Guest Host
- 2019 · Tamron Hall as Self - Guest
- 2018 · Fancy Nancy as Mr. Singh (voice)
- 2018 · Lie Detector as Self
- 2017 · The Layover as Anuj
- 2017 · Once Upon a Time in Venice as Rajeesh
- 2016 · Designated Survivor as Seth Wright
- 2016 · The $100,000 Pyramid as Self
- 2016 · Match Game as Self - Panelist
- 2016 · To Tell the Truth as Self - Panelist
- 2015 · The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as
- 2015 · Emily & Tim as Tim (Segment 2)
- 2015 · The Late Late Show with James Corden as Self - Guest
- 2014 · Late Night with Seth Meyers as Self
- 2013 · Hollywood Game Night as Self
- 2012 · Finding Your Roots as Self
- 2011 · Impractical Jokers as Self
- 2011 · A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas as Kumar Patel
- 2011 · American Horror Story as Mac Marzara
- 2011 · New Girl as Tripp
- 2009 · Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen as Self - Guest
- 2008 · Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay as Kumar Patel
- 2007 · The Big Bang Theory as Kevin Campbell
- 2006 · Superman Returns as Stanford
- 2005 · How I Met Your Mother as Kevin Venkataraghavan
- 2005 · Son of the Mask as Jorge
- 2005 · The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson as Self
- 2004 · House as Lawrence Kutner
- 2004 · Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle as Kumar Patel
- 2003 · Love Don't Co$t a Thing as Kenneth Warman
- 2003 · Tru Calling as Steven
- 2001 · 24 as Ahmed Amar
- 1999 · Angel as Young Man in Fez
- 1999 · Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Henry Chanoor
- 1999 · Independent Lens as Jagdesh
- 1999 · Independent Lens as Vandana's Fiancee
- 1997 · The View as Self - Guest
- 1997 · Buffy the Vampire Slayer as Hunt
- 1996 · Sabrina, the Teenage Witch as Prajeeb
- 1996 · Spin City as Buddy
- 1996 · The Daily Show as Self - Guest Host
- 1994 · ER as Narajan
- 1992 · The Tonight Show with Jay Leno as
- 1988 · LIVE with Kelly and Mark as Self - Guest
- 1979 · CBS News Sunday Morning as Self
- Future · Brookfield as Kumar Zimmerman
- 2024 · The Underdoggs as Ryan Kauffman
- 2023 · Schoolhouse Rock! 50th Anniversary Singalong as Self
- 2022 · The Santa Clauses as Simon Choksi
- 2021 · Hot Mess Holiday as Kal Penn
- 2021 · Untitled Horror Movie as Mark
- 2021 · Clarice as Shaan Tripathi
- 2021 · Clarice: Behind the Scenes with Stars and Producers as Self
- 2020 · Kal Penn Approves This Message as Self - Host
- 2020 · The Girl in the Woods as
- 2019 · Sunnyside as Garrett Modi
- 2018 · The Ashram as Nitin
- 2017 · The Problem with Apu as Self
- 2017 · Superhuman as Self - Host
- 2017 · Speech & Debate as James
- 2016 · Better Off Single as Brice
- 2015 · The Girl in the Photographs as Peter Hemmings
- 2015 · The Sisterhood of Night as Gordy Gambhir
- 2015 · The Big Picture with Kal Penn as Himself - Host
- 2015 · Battle Creek as Detective Fontanelle
- 2014 · A Prayer for Rain as Motwani
- 2014 · Deadbeat as Clyde
- 2013 · We Are Men as Gil Bartis
- 2013 · Dementamania as
- 2013 · The Big Brain Theory as Self - Host
- 2011 · Harold & Kumars Yuletide Jamz as Kumar Patel
- 2010 · Top Gear as
- 2009 · We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial as Self
- 2008 · Harold & Kumar Go to Amsterdam as Kumar
- 2007 · Epic Movie as Edward
- 2006 · Van Wilder 2: The Rise of Taj as Taj Mahal Badalandabad
- 2006 · Deck the Halls as Amit Sayid (uncredited)
- 2006 · The Namesake as Gogol / Nikhil
- 2006 · Man About Town as Alan Fineberg
- 2006 · Bachelor Party Vegas as Z-Bob
- 2006 · Awesometown as Guy Reading Newspaper
- 2005 · Sueno as Raj
- 2005 · A Lot Like Love as Jeeter
- 2005 · Dancing in Twilight as Sam
- 2004 · Where's the Party Yaar? as Mo
- 2004 · Ball and Chain as Bobby
- 2004 · Homeland Security as Harrison
- 2003 · All About the Andersons as Doctor George
- 2003 · Malibu's Most Wanted as Hadji
- 2003 · Cosmopolitan as Vandana's Fiancee
- 2002 · National Lampoon's Van Wilder as Taj Mahal Badalandabad
- Future · Trust Me, I'm a Doctor as Dr. Sandeep Kapoor
- 2001 · American Desi as Ajay Pandya
- Future · What the F*ck Is My Password?! as
- 2003 · Regarding Ardy as Fred
- 1998 · Express: Aisle to Glory as Jackie Newton
- Future · Patel as