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
- 2024 · The Underdoggs as Ryan Kauffman
- 2023 · Scott Pilgrim Takes Off as Ventakish (voice)
- 2023 · Schoolhouse Rock! 50th Anniversary Singalong as Self
- 2022 · The Santa Clauses as Simon Choksi
- 2022 · Smile as Dr. Morgan Desai
- 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
- 2021 · Celebrity Wheel of Fortune as Self - Contestant
- 2020 · Kal Penn Approves This Message as Self - Host
- 2020 · The Girl in the Woods as
- 2020 · Mira, Royal Detective as Mikku (voice)
- 2019 · Sunnyside as Garrett Modi
- 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 · The Ashram as Nitin
- 2018 · Lie Detector as Self
- 2017 · The Problem with Apu as Self
- 2017 · The Layover as Anuj
- 2017 · Superhuman as Self - Host
- 2017 · Once Upon a Time in Venice as Rajeesh
- 2017 · Speech & Debate as James
- 2016 · Better Off Single as Brice
- 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 Girl in the Photographs as Peter Hemmings
- 2015 · The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as
- 2015 · Emily & Tim as Tim (Segment 2)
- 2015 · The Sisterhood of Night as Gordy Gambhir
- 2015 · The Big Picture with Kal Penn as Himself - Host
- 2015 · The Late Late Show with James Corden as Self - Guest
- 2015 · Battle Creek as Detective Fontanelle
- 2014 · A Prayer for Rain as Motwani
- 2014 · Deadbeat as Clyde
- 2014 · Late Night with Seth Meyers as Self
- 2013 · We Are Men as Gil Bartis
- 2013 · Dementamania as
- 2013 · Hollywood Game Night as Self
- 2013 · The Big Brain Theory as Self - Host
- 2012 · Finding Your Roots as Self
- 2011 · Impractical Jokers as Self
- 2011 · A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas as Kumar Patel
- 2011 · Harold & Kumars Yuletide Jamz as Kumar Patel
- 2011 · American Horror Story as Mac Marzara
- 2011 · New Girl as Tripp
- 2010 · Top Gear as
- 2009 · Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen as Self - Guest
- 2009 · We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial as Self
- 2008 · Harold & Kumar Go to Amsterdam as Kumar
- 2008 · Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay as Kumar Patel
- 2007 · The Big Bang Theory as Kevin Campbell
- 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 · Superman Returns as Stanford
- 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 · How I Met Your Mother as Kevin Venkataraghavan
- 2005 · A Lot Like Love as Jeeter
- 2005 · Son of the Mask as Jorge
- 2005 · The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson as Self
- 2005 · Dancing in Twilight as Sam
- 2004 · House as Lawrence Kutner
- 2004 · Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle as Kumar Patel
- 2004 · Where's the Party Yaar? as Mo
- 2004 · Ball and Chain as Bobby
- 2004 · Homeland Security as Harrison
- 2003 · Love Don't Co$t a Thing as Kenneth Warman
- 2003 · Tru Calling as Steven
- 2003 · All About the Andersons as Doctor George
- 2003 · Malibu's Most Wanted as Hadji
- 2003 · Regarding Ardy as Fred
- 2003 · Jimmy Kimmel Live! as
- 2003 · Cosmopolitan as Vandana's Fiancee
- 2002 · National Lampoon's Van Wilder as Taj Mahal Badalandabad
- 2001 · 24 as Ahmed Amar
- 2001 · American Desi as Ajay Pandya
- 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 · Trust Me, I'm a Doctor as Dr. Sandeep Kapoor
- 1998 · Express: Aisle to Glory as Jackie Newton
- Future · Brookfield as Kumar Zimmerman
- Future · Patel as