Kal Penn on His Whitened House Stint, Harold & Kumar's Christmas, and Hollywood's Residual Color Barrier

A unique factor happened to Kal Penn in order to fame: in April 2009, after making two effective franchise-beginning Harold & Kumar comedies, showing up in Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns, and co-starring on television’s House, increasing actor elected to consider a 2-year sabbatical from Hollywood to operate within the Federal government. Now, he returns to screens as Kumar to John Cho’s Harold in an exceedingly Harold & Kumar Christmas, which finds the first kind hamburger-seeking BFFs facing new, daunting existence changes and, within the spirit from the holidays, reviving their friendship the traditional way: With giant spliffs, babies on drugs, and Claymation. The 3rd large-screen Harold & Kumar outing finds Kumar in an impasse left by his girlfriend (Daneel Harris) and started from mediterranean school, he stays his days in a condition of stoned depression. Worse: He’s lengthy since separated ways with Harold, who’s now married and residing in the and surrounding suburbs. Whenever a mysterious Christmas package brings the 2 former close friends together on Christmas Eve, shenanigans (and Santa shootings) ensue. Movieline swept up with Penn lately in La to go over his use Leader Obama, how you can bridge political divides, dealing with the RZA, and just how he still finds themself up facing old attitudes towards race and color-casting when he is out for roles. How did your 2 yrs within the Whitened House change you, and made it happen improve your outlook being an actor returning to film? This is not on the acting stuff, and also to me that’s the excellent factor the 2 mobile phone industry's are totally separate. Things I love about be resourceful is you're able to exercise one a part of your mind so when you’re being cerebral it’s an entirely different a part of your mind. However I you know what I truly walked away with would be a much deeper feeling of… so, politically I’m a completely independent, I’m not really a Democrat or perhaps a Republican. So getting had that have I recognize that individuals don’t speak with one another enough. We don’t frequently speak with people who disagree around. I'd the opportunity to maintain this meeting the Leader had with a few youthful people in Boston, in which the Leader states should you only talk to individuals who accept you, then politics will invariably dissatisfy you. And i believe that’s so true, especially you now switch on CNN or Fox News or MSNBC also it’s just mostly nonsense. It’s mostly people yelling at one another, which sells ad space, I recieve it. That’s their main point here as well as their revenue, however it doesn’t be truthful, ever. It’s always spin. What exactly was your greatest takeaway? I believe things i learned from employed in Washington is the fact that you will find a lot of excellent achievements the Leader especially does — I believe that’s confirmed since you will find there's do-nothing Congress - but he’s been pushing several things using that don’t result in the news, like educational funding reform or growing Pell grants or loans. A few everything has made this news, like ending the Iraq war and also the Don’t Request, Don’t Tell repeal. But you will find a lot of stuff that don’t result in the news that It strengthened my resolve for attempting to stay active in public places service — not politics always, but public service. Certainly in attempting to remain in politics to assist [Leader Obama], but outdoors of this, feeling such as the more active we're within our community, whether we agree or disagree with individuals, the best we are able to be. How can you start to bring varying sides together, then? The problems are identical, and that we don’t frequently think about that. Should you think about something which the media did a fantastic job of creating contentious, the health care quote-unquote debate, the things they never centered on were things that everybody decided on. Everybody agreed that that current health care was not sustainable, everybody agreed when you’re a youthful person you need to have the ability to remain on your parent’s medical health insurance a bit longer, that people should eliminate something known as pre-existing conditions if you’re sick you are able to’t get began of the medical health insurance when it's needed probably the most. The most popular sense things. Nobody really spoken about this. And So I think there's lots of energy in speaking to one another professionally as humans and never spinning it with nonsense. Particularly if you pay attention to people of Congress talk: They struggle to convince us when you disagree with one individual or any other, in some way one individual loves America a lot more than another. That’s probably the most laughably absurd factor I’ve heard. How did the Whitened House staff receive you joining the ranks? Just like everyone else. We'd labored together since 2007 around the Leader’s campaign, and so i had become the opportunity to become familiar with them perfectly for a few years before he got inaugurated. Things I loved about dealing with everybody would be that the approximately 200 individuals who labored within the Whitened House, every one people were built with a unique story of methods we wound up volunteering around the campaign or coming there, which means you’ve got people who put law school on hold, or people who are veterans, and those that are economy professors. Jumping in to the film, Harold and Kumar took a little of time off work too - it’s been a couple of years, they’re in completely different places within their lives and no more BFFs. Both of them undergo large existence changes - growing older, considering beginning families, taking responsibility — which isn’t precisely what one might expect from what is considered a stoner movie. I seem like I’ve never seen this like a stoner movie, that is funny to individuals who always seen it as being a stoner movie. Whenever we got the script for the first, you go through it so that as an actress your responsibility would be to believably take part in the relationship between your figures. So for me personally it had been a pal comedy, it had been a journey comedy, contrary it had been a film about hamburgers. And using weed through the figures wasn't that not the same as using alcohol by other figures. Then when the film arrived on the scene the ones stated it’s a stoner movie, it’s a hamburger movie, it’s a frat boy movie, it’s an Asian-American movie — anything they were setting into it — I type of felt, sweet! In the event that’s that which you originate from the film that almost implies that we did our obligation as stars, should you’re capable of taking what you would like from the buddy comedy. However the reason I didn’t think it had been a stoner movie was, in comparison to legit stoner movies like Cheech and Chong and Pineapple Express, Harold and Kumar aren't high greatly. Right - particularly in that one. And when they're, only bad unexpected things happen. So a tree will get burned lower, or Kumar’s girlfriend breaks track of him, or anything. It’s just the aftermath that instructors them anything. Right. So contrary, it teaches you that you simply shouldn’t partake! That’s why I would like to put people around a table who accept each side of this and find out what decision they are available to. Within this script, what moments had you been most surprised to see? Everything between your cover and also the last page. [Laughs] I am talking about, Claymation? Claymation was awesome. Claymation and also the Christmas Story stuff were most likely a couple of my personal favorite moments. They weren’t shocking, by itself, however they were both a hat tip to some Christmas Story and also the Claymation movies, and that we love individuals movies. We wanted to really make it a conventional Christmas movie additionally to 1 about crazy gags. You will find additionally a couple of special shout-outs towards the Wu-Tang Clan within this movie. I'd a lot of fun with this. Which came first, getting RZA to perform a cameo or Kumar shedding a Wu-Tang line to calm an infant? Shedding the road. Because RZA wasn’t designed in initially, the lines were designed in initially. After which there is an entire discussion once the RZA signed on I had been a large proponent that Kumar should acknowledge the RZA is selling them a Christmas tree. He’s an enormous Wu-Tang fan, we are able to’t pull off that! And also the push-back wasn't any we do, and i believe ultimately it was the best decision. Remember within the first Harold & Kumar when Kumar stops to pee within the forest and Jamie Kennedy plays this bizarre businessman that pees right alongside him? He will get in the vehicle and Kumar never informs Harold what went down. Ever. Like, whatsoever. Which was among individuals moments. I still think Kumar recognizes that the RZA offered them a Christmas tree, he’s simply not tipping off Harold or anybody else. He’s performing it awesome. A couple of in the past, once you hit it large with Harold & Kumar and were subsequently branching out into other sorts of films, some wondered should you could get out of the “White Castle Ceiling.” What’s your undertake the way your publish-Harold and Kumar options have transformed, and also the film options you’ve produced in branching out? Personally i think very fortunate. Look, I believe there’s without doubt which i might have lost some jobs because Harold & Kumar is seen inside a particular light. You believe so? I don’t know, because who knows. But we’ve also had the opportunity to use folks like Mira Nair, Bryan Singer, the men who did 24, and today The Way I Met Your Mother, which are individuals who understand the Harold & Kumar franchise. And So I feel totally fortunate for the reason that realm, however i think there’s still one bar in Hollywood. It’s become infinitely better within the last eight years, particularly in television. However, you still audition for things constantly plus they let you know, “We wish to ensure that it stays a bit more vanilla, so…” That really happened for you lately? A week ago there is a film which i was up for having a very prominent African-American actor and that i was told a primary reason I didn’t obtain the job was because they weren't confident with several people of color within the cast. So, still it happens. It takes place although less now of computer did eight years back, and hopefully it takes place less eight years from now of computer does today, but you will find regrettably some backwards-thinking producers left in Hollywood. Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.