Kal Penn has come a long way: from one Taj Mahal to another.
It’s been five short years since most audiences were introduced to the New Jersey-born Indian actor in the comedy “National Lampoon’s Van Wilder,” in which the UCLA graduate played Taj Mahal Badalandabad, an endearingly earnest exchange student determined to lose his virginity.
Starting Friday, audiences will see a different side to the young actor in “The Namesake” ““ filmed in New York and India, including the actual Taj Mahal.
Based on the novel by Pulitzer Prize-winner Jhumpa Lahiri, the film follows the struggle of Gogol Ganguli (played by Penn), the child of first-generation Bengali immigrants in the United States.
“The Namesake” marks the most prominent of the actor’s recent string of roles beyond the comedy he’s most known for (Kumar of “Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle” fame), including a terrorist sleeper agent on the current season of “24” and Lex Luthor’s henchman in “Superman Returns.” His career began with roles in sitcoms such as “Buffy: The Vampire Slayer” and “Sabrina the Teenage Witch.”
“It’s not every day an actor gets to base a performance on a Pulitzer Prize-winner’s work,” Penn said. “I can turn to this text and know where (Gogol) lost his virginity, what his ATM password is ““ minute details.”
As one of the most recognizable Asian-American actors today, Penn has overcome many obstacles in Hollywood, where minorities have long had difficulty finding work or representation.
In fact, Penn’s legal name is Kalpen Modi, which he abbreviated because of concern that it would be more difficult to find work under his birth name ““ which is also a concern for the character in “The Namesake.”
Keen viewers will notice he is credited twice in “The Namesake,” under both his stage name and real name. Similarly, he also received a credit as Kalpen Modi in “Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle” ““ as a production assistant.
“It’s important to me to have my real name included in movies I appear in,” Penn said.
In spite of the difficulties facing minorities in the film industry, he is optimistic about growing opportunities and encourages other aspiring minority actors not to be intimidated.
“If you want to get into the arts, you should major in the arts,” he said. “It’s hard enough for an engineer to want to be an actor, even before you factor in race.”
Penn graduated with a degree in theater from UCLA in 1999 ““ though he often says he double-majored in theater and sociology. He managed to meet the requirements for the sociology major by attending classes on the side but was unable to officially graduate with a second major.
“(UCLA is) such a big school, no one’s watching everything. You can really get what you want out of it,” Penn said. “I was lucky because theater students can take classes (in the UCLA College), but students (in the UCLA College) can’t take theater classes.”
While at UCLA, Penn was involved in a variety of student groups ““ some of which he is reticent to divulge information about. He remains coy about his involvement in an underground intellectual society called “6 South.”
“I guess if it’s underground, then I can’t say anything, can I?” he said. “But I can tell you that I did live in Rieber 6 South.”
He was, however, more open with regard to the now-defunct pan-Asian student group Sangam.
“Sangam was a politically active group I founded with other outcasts from (the Indian Student Union), which was more of a social group,” Penn said.
Penn fondly recollected the club’s push to galvanize students in the fight against Proposition 209, which sought to eliminate affirmative action in the University of California in 1999. Among the most memorable moments of the campaign was the sit-in held in Royce Quad, which the actor is proud to have been involved with.
Even today, Penn likes to stay in touch with current events at UCLA and remains as socially conscious as ever.
He was disappointed to hear about fall quarter’s Taser incident, voicing his concern about police brutality against students in general.
“You don’t hear about that kind of stuff at any other top 25 schools like Yale or Berkeley,” he said. “The police should be protecting students. I remember police showing up in riot gear (in 1999) because of Midnight Yell on Glenrock (Avenue). It’s ridiculous. They’re just college kids.”
Nevertheless, Penn remains a dyed-in-the-wool Bruin through and through. He may have become one of the U.S.’s most successful young Asian-American actors, but Penn still reflects back on his younger days at UCLA.
“Just hanging out with friends on Bruin Walk ““ that’s what you miss when you graduate,” he said.