Penn is of Gujarati Indian ancestry and was born Kalpen Suresh Modi on April 23, 1977, in Montclair, New Jersey. He sometimes goes by the nicknames K-Kal or Hollywood. His father is an engineer and his mother, who has a master's in chemistry, worked as a fragrance evaluator for a perfume company. Penn also has one younger brother.
He began using the name Kal Penn, a variation on his first name Kalpen, to get more roles because he believed that his difficult foreign name would scare away potential employers.
Penn’s first amateur acting role was in grade eight where he starred in a school production of the musical The Wiz. He then went to school to polish his acting skills and is a 1995 graduate of The Fine and Performing Arts Specialized Learning Center of Freehold Township High School.
He then went on to study at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) where he graduated with a double major in film and sociology. While at UCLA, Penn was a founding member of the underground intellectual society 6 South. The group later split due to creative differences.
Penn made his feature film debut in 1998 as Jackie Newton in the short comedy Express: Aisle to Glory. He has since appeared in American Desi, National Lampoon’s Van Wilder, with Ryan Reynolds, Tara Reid, and Tim Matheson; Malibu’s Most Wanted, with Jamie Kennedy, Taye Diggs, Anthony Anderson, Regina Hall, BlairUnderwood, and Bo Derek; A Lot Like Love; Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, opposite John Cho; Dude, Where’s the Party; Love Don’t Cost a Thing; and Superman Returns, with Brandon Routh, Kate Bosworth, and Kevin Spacey, as Stanford, one of Lex Luthor's henchmen.
In 2005, Penn was featured in The Lonely Island’s low-budget sketch comedy Awesometown for MTV. The pilot was rejected due to its content.
He played Gogol Ganguli in the romantic drama The Namesake in 2006 and, also played a role in the comedy National Lampoon’s Van Wilder: The Rise of Taj in 2006. In 2007, he will play the part of a recurring villain in the sixth season of the Emmy and Golden Globe award winning FOX television series 24, with Kiefer Sutherland.
In 2007, Penn will star as Edmund in the spoof comedy Epic Movie distributed by 20th Century Fox. In 2008, he will have the part of Kumar Patel in the comedy Harold and Kumar Go to Amsterdam.
Penn currently lives in Los Angeles in the same apartment building as director Leon Shanglebee who translated the 1968 classic horror film Night of the Living Dead for the stage in 2006.
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