Both schools are part of the Freehold Regional High School District in New Jersey. He attended The Fine and Performing Arts Academy (a magnet program) as a Theater major at Howell High School for freshman year, then transferred to Freehold Township High School for his sophomore, junior, and senior years. Modi attended Marlboro Middle School in Marlboro Township, New Jersey, where he played baritone saxophone in the jazz band. He has stated that stories of his grandparents marching with Mahatma Gandhi during the Indian independence movement were a significant influence on his interest in politics. Modi regularly visited Gujarat as a child during vacations, and he can speak some Gujarati as well as some Hindi.

His father is from Kaira and his mother was born in Baroda. His mother, Asmita Bhatt, is a fragrance evaluator for a perfume company, and his father, Suresh Modi, is an engineer. Penn was born as Kalpen Suresh Modi ( Gujarati: કલ્પેન સુરેશ મોદી) in Montclair, New Jersey on April 23, 1977, to Hindu Indian immigrant parents. The following year he went on to host a political talk miniseries on Freeform called Kal Penn Approves This Message. In 2019, Penn portrayed Garrett Modi in the NBC sitcom series Sunnyside. Additionally, he served as host of the game show Superhuman. įrom 2016 to 2019, he played Seth Wright in the political drama Designated Survivor, where he also served as a consultant on the show.

In July 2011, he again left the White House to accept a role in the television series How I Met Your Mother. Penn briefly left his post in June 2010 to film the third installment of the Harold & Kumar series, A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, returning to his White House job upon the movie's completion.

This necessitated that his TV character, Lawrence Kutner, be written out of House. In April 2009, Penn joined the Obama administration as an associate director in the White House Office of Public Engagement as liaison for outreach to AAPI and arts communities. Penn once taught at the University of Pennsylvania in the Cinema Studies Program as a visiting lecturer. He is also recognized for his performance in the film The Namesake. As an actor he is known for his portrayals of Lawrence Kutner on the television program House, White House staffer Seth Wright on Designated Survivor, and Kumar Patel in the Harold & Kumar film series. Kalpen Suresh Modi (born April 23, 1977), known professionally as Kal Penn, is an American actor, author, and former White House staff member in the Barack Obama administration.

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