Born on 23rd April 1977, Kalpen Suresh Modi is an American comedian and actor. He is popularly known as Kal Penn. He was the former white house staff member in the Obama administration. People know Kal Penn through his portrayal of the character Lawrence Kutner on a television show titled House. Not just that, he is also popular for playing the character of Kumar Patel in the Harold and Kumar film series. Kal Penn is widely acknowledged for his performance in the film The Namesake. Besides being a successful actor and comedian, he has been the cinema studies program lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania.
Kalpen Suresh Modi was appointed as an associate director in the White House office of public engagement in April 2009. After serving for a short period, he gave up his post at the White House administration and started filming the third installment of the Harold and Kumar series. He resumed his office after the release of the film only to leave it again in July 2011, to perform in the TV series how I met your mother.

Next, he continued to play the role of seth Wright for consecutive three years, starting from 2016 in the political drama titled designated survivor. Later, he also worked as a consultant on the same project. He had also been the host of the game show superhuman. In Kal Penn biography, we would know more about his personal and professional life.
Early Life and Education
Kal Penn belongs to a Gujarati family, which immigrated to the US. He was born in Montclair in New Jersey. Born to parents named Suresh Modi and Asmita Bhatt, Kal Penn was sent to the Marlboro middle school in Marlboro township, new Jersey. Later he attended the fine and performing arts academy located at Howell school to gather skills and knowledge at performing. Because of his keen interest in stage and drama, he took active participation in his school’s theater productions. He completed his graduation from UCLA in 2000, with a double major in two subjects: film and sociology.
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Kalpen Suresh Modi is presently known to be unmarried, though there are a lot of speculations to exist about in romantic life. It isn’t clear if he is in a relationship. A lot of times, the actor seeing romantically involved with his co-stars. However, it was later found that all of it was for the sake of performing on screen.
Net Worth and House
As per the latest reports, Kal Penn’s net worth is estimated to be around $18 million. His source of income is multiple. He earns as an actor, a civil servant, a chef, and a producer too.
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Movies and Achievement
- Kal Penn’s first movie was Express: aisle to glory. It was released in 1998. Since then, he was seen on screen performing in various films like Malibu’s Most Wanted, American Desi, the final episode of lonely Island, van wilder, a lot like love, superman returns, dude, the namesake, where’s the party? and many more.
- In January 2007, Epic Movie, a spoofy comedy of Kal Penn was released. He was also credited for his role in the television series Law and Order: Special victims unit.
- Kal Penn was seen appearing on stage on the fifth season finale episode of Both Sides Now.
- His unexpected performance surprised a lot of viewers and his role was highly acclaimed.
- Kal Penn’s most prestigious award so far is the ‘Asian Excellence Award for Outstanding Actor’ for his brilliant role in the film ” the namesake”.
- Apart from this, he won nominations for an MTV movie award.
- He has also won several awards like a Screen Actors Guild Award and the teen choice award for his character portrayal of Kumar Patel in the television series Harold and Kumar go to white castle.
Sum up
As we previously mentioned, Kal Penn was an activist as well. He took active participation in promoting Barack Obama’s presidential election campaign both in 2007 and 2008. He was simultaneously a staff of the national arts policy committee. Being a popular figure, he is invited to a lot of television programs. In that context, he has been the recipient of the MasterChef Celebrity Showdown. Being a philanthropist, he donated a sum of $ 25,000 to a UN relief and human development agency named UNRWA.