Portrait of Kal Penn

Kal Penn

Acting

Biography

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

Born: April 23, 1977

Place of Birth: Montclair, New Jersey, USA

Filmography

2024
The Underdoggs

as Ryan Kauffman

2023
Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

as Ventakish (voice)

2022
The Santa Clauses

as Simon Choksi

2022
Smile

as Dr. Morgan Desai

2021
Hot Mess Holiday

as Kal Penn

2021
Clarice

as Shaan Tripathi

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
Sunnyside

as Garrett Modi

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
2017
2017
Superhuman

as Self - Host

2017
2016
2016
Designated Survivor

as Seth Wright

2016
Match Game

as Self - Panelist

2016
To Tell the Truth

as Self - Panelist

2015
2015
Emily & Tim

as Tim (Segment 2)

2015
The Sisterhood of Night

as Gordy Gambhir

2015
2015
Battle Creek

as Detective Fontanelle

2014
2014
Deadbeat

as Clyde

2013
We Are Men

as Gil Bartis

2013
The Big Brain Theory

as Self - Host

2011
American Horror Story

as Mac Marzara

2011
New Girl

as Tripp

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
Awesometown

as Guy Reading Newspaper

2005
Sueno

as Raj

2005
How I Met Your Mother

as Kevin Venkataraghavan

2005
2005
2004
House

as Lawrence Kutner

2004
2004
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
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
1999
Independent Lens

as Vandana's Fiancee

1998
Express: Aisle to Glory

as Jackie Newton

1997
The View

as Self - Guest

1996
Spin City

as Buddy

1996
The Daily Show

as Self - Guest Host

1994
ER

as Narajan

1988
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Trust Me, I'm a Doctor

as Dr. Sandeep Kapoor