ComingSoon.net: When I talked to Mira, she mentioned that you were a big fan of
Kal Penn: Yes, I was a huge fan of her stuff. I saw one of her films, "Mississippi Masala" in 7th or 8th grade, and that kind of motivated me to be an actor. I loved the film, and she was a role model of mine ever since then. I was following her career and how she got into it and all that stuff.
CS: How did you find out about the project? Had you read the book and knew she was adapting it?
Penn: No, I read the book. John Cho, who plays Harold in "Harold & Kumar," recommended the book, and we were both big fans of Jhumpa's first book. John kind of ridiculed me for not having heard about "The Namesake," because somehow I missed its release entirely. So he insisted I go out and buy it, so I bought it and read it almost in one sitting, and bawled my eyes out. It was this very moving book, and we tried to get the rights to turn it into a film, and found out that Mira had already gotten the rights, which was perfect, because we couldn't think of anybody better to direct such an intimate story anyway. Then I began this really aggressive campaign of trying to get the audition and the reason I got the audition ultimately was because of Mira's son Zoran and Mira's agent's son Sam, both who berated their parents until they agreed to audition me.
CS: What did you have to do to convince her you were right to play Gogol besides showing her that you play the character at different ages?
Penn: I went in to audition thanks to Zoran and Sam and then I guess the audition went well and it went on from there.
CS: I'm surprised she didn't think of you first, since there doesn't seem to be that many Indo-American actors floating around who could play such a role.
Penn: Well, there are a lot actually, but there are just so few opportunities that you don't see them a lot. But there are a lot of Indo-American actors in New York, L.A., Chicago, it's just that there aren't as many opportunities.
CS: At least none that could carry a movie like you have to do with this.
Penn: But that experience comes with the opportunity. Even on TV right now, you've got Parminder Nagra on "E.R.", you have Sendhil on "Heroes" and Maulik on "30 Rock."
CS: Do you know any of them or keep in touch as they move through their careers?
Penn: I actually know all three of them, because I met Parminder in L.A. through mutual friends. I met Sendhil and Maulik both a couple years ago, because we were all at the same auditions. hers and her movies inspired you to get into acting?
CS: I was wondering if you ever end up competing with those guys for some of those roles. I'd assume you have a bit more weight at this point, having made a name for yourself.
Penn: I think it's just different. I've been doing films, but they're on hit TV shows. More people know about those guys than me, 'cause people watch a lot of TV.
S: Did you ever have his dilemma where you had to decide whether to keep in touch with their culture and traditions or do your own thing?
Penn: Actually, I don't think that Gogol has that dilemma; I think Ashima has that dilemma. In my opinion, Gogol is really comfortable being this American guy of Indian descent and he's always doing his own thing. It's other people in his life who take issue with him being so comfortable, like Maxine for example, they're laying in bed and she says, "Don't your parents want you to marry a nice Indian girl?" and he says "I don't care what they want. This is what I want." At the party when she graduates, her Mom introduces Gogol as "the Indian architect that Maxine's with" and Gogol gets bugged with stuff like that, because he's like, "Why can't I just be an architect? Why does everybody take issue with race like this?" So Gogol's actually the one who's comfortable with his ethnicity and his identity. It's other people. And as far as his attachment to his family, that's something everybody goes through. He's in these post-college years where he's not in touch with his parents and he should be until something brings him back into it.
CS: When that change happens, he seems to overcompensate by hooking up with an Indian girl who ends up being completely wrong for him.
Penn: Yeah, but I don't see that culturally. I just see that as him getting back in touch with his family. And as far as that girl being Indian, that's not why he falls in love with her. He falls in love with her because she's this really strong, creative woman who studied French literature and has this PhD and he thinks that's kind of cool.
CS: As far as shooting in India, was this the first time you actually filmed a movie there? Can you talk about that experience and playing different ages while there?
Penn: Yeah, it was incredible. India is a really interesting place to shoot, because the city of Calcutta, just like the city of New York in this movie, each of those cities is a character, just like Ashima, Ashoke and Gogol. It's great to be in a city that's that vibrant, you're just dropped in the middle and you go from there. And playing the different age ranges was great, too. I relied a lot on Jhumpa's book and the description of the characters at different ages to play those.
CS: And you had to shave your head for the movie. Did you realize that ahead of time when you took the part and you were ready to do that?
Penn: Yes, absolutely.
CS: So Harold and Kumar are no longer going to Amsterdam?
Penn: They are, they get there at the end.
CS: "Harold & Kumar" was interesting because it came out in a year where there were a bunch of R-rated comedies that didn't do well. Then the following year, there was "Wedding Crashers" and "40-Year-Old Virgin," both huge hits. What are your feelings about them after your own experiences?
Penn: I guess it's just scripts people write that they don't want to taper down or censor and hope that the audience will pick up on it, but it depends. If things skew younger, it's harder to get a successful R-rated comedy because kids can't get into them.
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