Kal Penn

Biography

Kal Penn (born Kalpen Suresh Modi) is an American actor, comedian, and former White House staff member in the Obama administration. He is best known for his roles as Kumar Patel in the Harold & Kumar movie franchise, Taj Mahal Badalandabad in Van Wilder and Van Wilder 2: The Rise of Taj,

Known For

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Henry Chanoor

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

Self

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Late Night with Seth Meyers

Self

Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen

Self - Guest

The Daily Show

Self - Guest Host

The Late Late Show with James Corden

Self - Guest

Tamron Hall

Self - Guest

Filmography

Year	Movie	Role
2024	The Underdoggs	Ryan Kauffman
2023	Schoolhouse Rock! 50th Anniversary Singalong	Self
2022	Smile	Dr. Morgan Desai
2021	Hot Mess Holiday	Kal Penn
2021	Untitled Horror Movie	Mark
2021	Clarice: Behind the Scenes with Stars and Producers	Self
2020	The Girl in the Woods
2018	The Ashram	Nitin
2017	The Layover	Anuj
2017	Once Upon a Time in Venice	Rajeesh
2017	Speech & Debate	James
2017	The Problem with Apu	Self
2016	Better Off Single	Brice
2015	The Sisterhood of Night	Gordy Gambhir
2015	Emily & Tim	Tim (Segment 2)
2015	The Girl in the Photographs	Peter Hemmings
2014	A Prayer for Rain	Motwani
2013	Dementamania
2011	A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas	Kumar Patel
2011	Harold & Kumars Yuletide Jamz	Kumar Patel
2009	We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial	Self
2008	Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay	Kumar Patel
2008	Harold & Kumar Go to Amsterdam	Kumar
2007	Epic Movie	Edward
2006	Superman Returns	Stanford
2006	Van Wilder 2: The Rise of Taj	Taj Mahal Badalandabad
2006	Man About Town	Alan Fineberg
2006	Bachelor Party Vegas	Z-Bob
2006	Deck the Halls	Amit Sayid (uncredited)
2006	The Namesake	Gogol / Nikhil
2006	Awesometown	Guy Reading Newspaper
2005	A Lot Like Love	Jeeter
2005	Son of the Mask	Jorge
2005	Sueno	Raj
2005	Dancing in Twilight	Sam
2004	Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle	Kumar Patel
2004	Where's the Party Yaar?	Mo
2004	Ball and Chain	Bobby
2004	Homeland Security	Harrison
2003	Love Don't Co$t a Thing	Kenneth Warman
2003	Malibu's Most Wanted	Hadji
2003	Regarding Ardy	Fred
2003	Cosmopolitan	Vandana's Fiancee
2002	National Lampoon's Van Wilder	Taj Mahal Badalandabad
2001	American Desi	Ajay Pandya
1998	Express: Aisle to Glory	Jackie Newton
	Jodie	Sandeep (voice)
	Trust Me, I'm a Doctor	Dr. Sandeep Kapoor
	Brookfield	Kumar Zimmerman

Year	TV Show	Role
2023	Scott Pilgrim Takes Off	Ventakish (voice)
2022	The Santa Clauses	Simon Choksi
2021	Clarice	Shaan Tripathi
2021	Celebrity Wheel of Fortune	Self - Contestant
2020	Mira, Royal Detective	Mikku (voice)
2020	Kal Penn Approves This Message	Self - Host
2019	Tamron Hall	Self - Guest
2019	Sunnyside	Garrett Modi
2019	The Kelly Clarkson Show	Self
2019	A Little Late with Lilly Singh	Self
2019	The Kelly Clarkson Show	Self - Guest Host
2019	The Kelly Clarkson Show
2018	Fancy Nancy	Mr. Singh (voice)
2018	Lie Detector	Self
2017	Superhuman	Self - Host
2016	Designated Survivor	Seth Wright
2016	Match Game	Self - Panelist
2016	To Tell the Truth	Self - Panelist
2016	The $100,000 Pyramid	Self
2015	Battle Creek	Detective Fontanelle
2015	The Big Picture with Kal Penn	Himself - Host
2015	The Late Late Show with James Corden	Self - Guest
2015	The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2014	Deadbeat	Clyde
2014	Late Night with Seth Meyers	Self
2013	The Big Brain Theory	Self - Host
2013	We Are Men	Gil Bartis
2013	Hollywood Game Night	Self
2012	Finding Your Roots	Self
2011	Impractical Jokers	Self
2011	New Girl	Tripp
2011	American Horror Story	Mac Marzara
2010	Top Gear
2009	Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen	Self - Guest
2007	The Big Bang Theory	Kevin Campbell
2005	How I Met Your Mother	Kevin Venkataraghavan
2005	The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson	Self
2004	House	Lawrence Kutner
2003	Jimmy Kimmel Live!
2003	Tru Calling	Steven
2003	All About the Andersons	Doctor George
2001	24	Ahmed Amar
1999	Angel	Young Man in Fez
1999	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Henry Chanoor
1999	Independent Lens	Jagdesh
1999	Independent Lens	Vandana's Fiancee
1997	The View	Self - Guest
1997	Buffy the Vampire Slayer	Hunt
1996	Spin City	Buddy
1996	Sabrina, the Teenage Witch	Prajeeb
1996	The Daily Show	Self - Guest Host
1994	ER	Narajan
1992	The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
1988	LIVE with Kelly and Mark	Self - Guest
1979	CBS News Sunday Morning	Self