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Kal Penn

Kal Penn

Acting1977Montclair, New Jersey, USA

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

Acting History

Future
Trust Me, I'm a Doctor
as Dr. Sandeep Kapoor
Brookfield
as Kumar Zimmerman
Contra
as Dale Stone
Patel
Executive Producer
2026
Industry
TVas Jay 'Jonah' Atterbury8 eps
2025
Name That Tune
TVas Self - Contestant1 eps
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
TVas Self - Contestant1 eps
The Kelly Clarkson Show
TVas Self / Self - Guest Host1 eps
Celebrity Weakest Link
TVas Self - Contestant
2024
The Underdoggs
as Ryan Kauffman
2023
2022
Smile
as Dr. Morgan Desai
Celebrity Wheel of Fortune
TVas Self - Contestant1 eps
Tamron Hall
TVas Self - Guest1 eps
American Horror Story
TVas Mac Marzara5 eps
The Santa Clauses
TVas Simon Choksi
2019
Finding Your Roots
TVas Self1 eps
The Big Bang Theory
TVas Kevin Campbell3 eps
Sunnyside
TVas Garrett Modi
2018
The Ashram
as Nitin
Fancy Nancy
TVas Mr. Singh (voice)123 eps
2017
Superhuman
TVas Self - Host
The $100,000 Pyramid
TVas Self2 eps
To Tell the Truth
TVas Self - Panelist4 eps
2016
Match Game
TVas Self - Panelist3 eps
New Girl
TVas Tripp2 eps
Designated Survivor
TVas Seth Wright53 eps
2015
The Sisterhood of Night
as Gordy Gambhir
Emily & Tim
as Tim (Segment 2)
The Soup
TVas Self1 eps
Battle Creek
TVas Detective Fontanelle13 eps
2013
Hollywood Game Night
TVas Self1 eps
We Are Men
TVas Gil Bartis
The Big Brain Theory
TVas Self - Host
2011
How I Met Your Mother
TVas Kevin Venkataraghavan10 eps
2007
Epic Movie
as Edward
24
TVas Ahmed Amar4 eps
House
TVas Lawrence Kutner40 eps
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
TVas Henry Chanoor1 eps
2006
Man About Town
as Alan Fineberg
Van Wilder 2: The Rise of Taj
as Taj Mahal Badalandabad
The Namesake
as Gogol / Nikhil
Deck the Halls
as Amit Sayid (uncredited)
Awesometown
as Guy Reading Newspaper
Superman Returns
as Stanford
2004
Independent Lens
TVas Vandana's Fiancee / Jagdesh1 eps
2003
Love Don't Co$t a Thing
as Kenneth Warman
Cosmopolitan
as Vandana's Fiancee
All About the Andersons
TVas Doctor George
Tru Calling
TVas Steven1 eps
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
TVas Self - Guest
2002
National Lampoon's Van Wilder
as Taj Mahal Badalandabad
2001
American Desi
as Ajay Pandya
ER
TVas Narajan1 eps
Angel
TVas Young Man in Fez1 eps
The Agency
TVas Malek1 eps
2000
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch
TVas Prajeeb1 eps
Spin City
TVas Buddy1 eps
1999
Freshmen
as Ajay
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
TVas Hunt1 eps
1998
Express: Aisle to Glory
as Jackie Newton
1997
The View
TVas Self - Guest
1996
The Daily Show
TVas Self - Guest Host
1988
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
TVas Self - Guest

Social Media

Personal Info

Known For
Acting
Gender
Male
Birthday
4/23/1977(48 years old)
Place of Birth
Montclair, New Jersey, USA