Kalpen Suresh Modi (born April 23, 1977) is an American actor.
Biography[]
Known professionally as Kal Penn, Kalpen Suresh Modi is an American actor, author, academic lecturer, and former White House staff member in the Barack Obama administration. He was born in Montclair, New Jersey, to Gujarati Indian immigrant parents, He graduated from UCLA in 2000, and double majored in film and sociology. Kal Penn came out as gay in 2021 in his memoir, You Can’t Be Serious, announcing his engagement to his partner, with whom he's been in a relationship for over a decade. [1]
Kal Penn has worked extensively for the Democratic Party encouraging young people to vote and become informed on political issues. Penn was a co-chair of Obama's reelection campaign. On September 3, 2012, he hosted coverage of the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. Penn's speech at the convention encouraged young people to register to vote and defended Obama's record. On November 18, 2013, Obama appointed Penn to serve on the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities. On February 28, 2014, Penn served as the Master of Ceremonies for the White House Student Film Festival.
Artistically, he has had recurring roles in several popular television series. However, Kal Penn expressed concerns over racial profiling that sees people of color overtly cast as terrorists such as his role as Ahmed Amar in the TV series 24.
Acting credits includes TV series such as ER, How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, The Big Picture with Kal Penn, and the films Epic Movie, The Girl in the Photographs, Once Upon a Time in Venice, and Smile among others.
Work on American Horror Story[]
Kal Penn was listed as being part of the main cast of the eleventh installment of American Horror Story, titled AHS: NYC as Detective Mac Marzara.[2]
Trivia[]
Appearances[]
| Story or Series | Character | Episodes |
|---|---|---|
| NYC | Mac Marzara |
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ Kal Penn Reveals Sexuality, Announces Engagement to His Partner of 11 Years. Vanity Fair (Nov 1, 2021).
- ↑ AHS: NYC "New Season. New City. New Fears". Instagram.
| Murder House | |||||||
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| Asylum | |||||||
| Coven | |||||||
| Freak Show | |||||||
| Hotel | |||||||
| Roanoke | |||||||
| Cult | |||||||
| Apocalypse | |||||||
| 1984 | |||||||
| Double Feature |
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| NYC | |||||||
| Delicate | |||||||