Kal Penn

Kal Penn is an established American actor, comedian, producer, writer, and former civil servant popular for his breakout role in the critically acclaimed film The Namesake. He is also mostly known for his performance in Harold & Kumar and How I Met Your Mother.

In the year 2009, Penn became an Associate Director for the Obama administration. From 2016-2018, he was cast in Designated Survivor. He has also played in several movies and TV shows.

Birth Details 

Kal Penn was born as Kalpen Suresh Modi on April 23, 1977, in Montclair, New Jersey. As of 2022, he is at the age of 45 and he stands at the height of 5 feet 10 inches or 178 cm tall.

His parents are Asmita Fragrance, an evaluator, and Suresh Modi an engineer. His mother has a master’s degree in Chemistry. Penn grew up in a traditional Indian family and became an actor. Both of his parents are Indian (Gujarati) immigrants. They both dreamed of their son being a doctor or lawyer. 

Ethnicity Of Penn

Penn also rejected to join the soccer team and instead joined the school’s drama classes. He also has a younger brother, Pulin Modi. His nationality is American and ethnicity-wise, he is of Gujarati Indian descent. Kal also states his grandparents were fighting along with Mahatma Gandhi for Indian independence and that inspired him to pursue his interest in politics as well. 

Penn attended the Marlboro Middle School in Marlboro, New Jersey, and played baritone saxophone in the school band. Then he attended Howell High School's Academy for The Fine and Performing Arts for three years. After that, he attended the University of California, Los Angeles, majoring in sociology and performance, being active in the theater program at both schools. 

Educational Details

Penn later went on to study at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and graduated with a double major in film and sociology. While performing in several school productions in the 1990s, he simultaneously landed parts on such television programs as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Spin City, and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.

When he was in 8th grade he was in a school production of the musical "The Wiz". Although he attended Howell High School's performing arts program, he later transferred to Freehold Township (New Jersey) High School, where he graduated in the year 1995.

Early Career Stage

Kal Penn kick-started his film career by appearing in Express: Aisle to Glory in 1988. Began using the name Kal Penn, a variation on his birth name Kalpen, to get more roles. He believed that his difficult foreign name would scare away potential employe.

Penn changed his stage name to "Kal Penn", largely to disprove to his friends that his Indian surname was affecting his ability to obtain acting work. 

Supported Barack Obama's presidential campaign

Instead, all calls made on it were true and his callbacks rose by 50%. He still prefers to be addressed by his birth name. During Barack Obama's presidential campaign, Penn was a strong supporter and a member of Obama's National Arts Policy Committee.

In April 2009, Penn said that the television writers killed off his character on House (2004) because he had asked to be allowed to leave the show to go work for the Barack Obama Administration as the Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Liaison. He accepted the position.

Nominated For MTV Movie Award

In Late April 2010, Penn was robbed at gunpoint at 1:20 a.m. in Washington D.C. His wallet and other belongings were stolen. Penn won an Asian Excellence Award for Outstanding Actor for his splendid work in the film The Namesake.

He was also nominated for an MTV Movie Award (for Harold & Kumar), a Screen Actors Guild Award (as part of the cast of House), and a Teen Choice Award (for Harold & Kumar).

Drama Series of Penn

In 2014, Penn was working on graduating in international security from Stanford University. He also served as visiting lecturer in Asian American Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. From 2016-17, he was cast in the TV series Superhuman. 

In October 2016, Penn landed a regular role as a White House speechwriter Seth in the ABC drama series Designated Survivor Kiefer Sutherland, Natascha McElhone, Adan Canto, and Italia Ricci. He played the role in the series from 2016-18. 

Net Worth 

Kal Penn has earned a decent amount of money from his career. As per Celebrity's net worth, he has an estimated net worth of around $10 million as of March 2022. He is a former civil servant and his annual salary was reported to be over $52,000. 

The actor owns a house in New Jersey but the financial details of the house are yet to be revealed. Penn has landed a number of significant roles in many box office hit movies.

Earnings from Movie

In the year 2011, Penn was cast in the comedy movie A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas. The movie generally received positive reviews as well as was turned out to be commercially successful as it grossed over $36 million on a budget of $19 million.

In 2004, he also appeared in the movie Harold & Kumar Got to White Castle which also became an instant hit at the box office making over $23 million whereas its production was $9 million. 

Kal's Relationship Status

Kal Penn is quite popular on social networking sites, however, he has managed to keep his personal life away from the limelight. He is not married and does not have a wife at the moment but is in a relationship. He is currently engaged to his partner Josh.

In October 2021, Penn revealed his sexuality and made an announcement about his engagement with his partner Josh of over 11 years, during the promotion of his memoir "You Can’t Be Serious".

Rumored of Kal's Death

News of Kal Penn’s death spread in June 2016 causing concern among fans across the world. However, the June 2016 report has been confirmed as a complete hoax and just the latest in a string of fake celebrity death reports.

Kal Penn death hoax spreads on Facebook. Rumors of the actor’s alleged demise gained popularity after a ‘R.I.P. Kal Penn’ Facebook page attracted nearly one million ‘likes’. Those who read the ‘About’ page were given a believable account of the American actor’s passing. 

Social Media

Penn is also busy on social media like Facebook and Instagram. On his Instagram account, he frequently shares a photo along with Italia Ricci. Also, he is a good friend of the actress, Olivia Wilde.

Talking more about his personal life, the actor is a vegetarian. The actor currently resides in New Jersey along with his family. The average house price for the first quarter in NJ is almost $403,785 to $500,628.