Up & Comer

Kal Penn
With his new movie, the actor graduates from screwball stoner to sensitive leading man -- that is, until he regresses again.
By Kevin Maynard

OK, Kal Penn may not be a household name. But try dropping the name "Kumar" around any 16-year-old boy (or make that 21, judging by the guy getting his autograph outside Penn's hotel suite, who claims he's the brother of the official Kal Penn fan club president and gushes, "He's awesome"). Such fans will become flushed with the kind of god-like awe reserved for the great pantheon of Hollywood teen heroes, from Ferris Bueller to Napoleon Dynamite.

"The weird thing is it's not just teenage boys who recognize me," says Penn, 29, looking every inch as young as his fan base, with his spiky gelled hair and "geek-chic" attire -- button-down shirt hanging out of khakis, patterned tie and white sneakers. "I had an 80-year-old guy come up to me at Whole Foods at 8 in the morning. He told me he loved "Harold & Kumar." I kept waiting for Ashton Kutcher to jump out and punk me."

But it's no joke. Since Penn's career peaked with the dubious distinction of his star turn as a college stoner in 2004's "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle," Penn's career has been on a steady rise. Now that he's connected with adolescents, he's hoping to get their parents' respect with his latest project, a movie adaptation of the best-selling novel "The Namesake," written by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jhumpa Lahiri. The movie tells the story of young New Yorker Gogol Ganguli (Penn), grappling with his own identity in white America and his family's traditional Bengali roots. Penn gives a true leading-man performance, subtly capturing the difficulties of assimilating while honoring his family's heritage.

The story hits home for Penn. Like his Namesake character, the actor was born and raised in the suburbs outside New York by immigrant parents who came from Mumbai.

They were less than thrilled by Penn's decision to become an actor, but he softened the blow by graduating from UCLA with a degree in sociology and a minor in theater in 1999. In college, he began making the Hollywood rounds and got a crash course in Racism 101. At one audition, he even was asked where his turban was.

"They would tell me to my face, 'You're not white or black, so you're not going to work -- ever,' " Penn says matter-of-factly. " 'You're really talented, but we're never going to use you.' I never anticipated that! Growing up and being totally comfortable with your identity and then being told or pointed out that you are this or this, that was not part of my vocabulary at all, so to confront that was very discouraging."

Since then, Penn has had varied success, sometimes landing roles where his ethnicity was a non-issue (he was one of Lex Luthor's henchmen in "Superman Returns"). Recently, he incurred the wrath of Indian-American bloggers with his stint playing a sleeper cell terrorist this season on the hit series "24."

"I did get a lot of flak," he says. "And I hope it ticked people off enough that they're going to write their senators and say we don't believe that racial profiling will capture any terrorists. If I can play a role that I vehemently disagree with, it's a good role. That's why I did it, because I disagreed with it so much I knew it would be a challenge for me."

Penn's next gig: He plans to teach two classes at the school of his own "namesake," the University of Pennsylvania. It may sound like a goof, but it's not. One of the courses is called "Images of Asian Americans in Media." Will "Harold & Kumar" make the syllabus? "Of course," he says, adding in deadpan, "it's very educational."

Why he's on our radar
Biggest claim to fame: His role as college stoner Kumar from the 2004 cult flick "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle."
Why we think he's an up-and-comer: Penn proves he can do it all, from dumb, broad comedy (see above) to mature, vulnerable roles ("The Namesake," opening in theaters this weekend).
His biggest fans: Until now, 16-year-old "Harold & Kumar" acolytes.
Is he that guy?: Again, talk about versatility. Yes, he was in this year's super-stupid Epic Movie; and yes, he also was a terrorist on TV's "24" this season, until Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) killed him.
What he told us about "24:" "If I can play a role that I vehemently politically disagree with, it's a good role."
Next up: "Harold & Kumar 2," due out next year.