Kal Penn Opens Up About Auditioning For Van Wilder Against 'A White Dude In Brownface'

Kal Penn has had a great career that’s included starring in one of the most notable stoner comedy franchises, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, for which he will forever be known as one of the greatest movie potheads. As with most actors, the early days of his career saw him auditioning a lot, and he’s now spoken about how he had to audition for his role in Van Wilder against “a white dude in brownface.”

What Kal Penn Said About Auditioning Against Someone In Brownface For Van Wilder

While it’s difficult for most actors to have a long career that also leads to them having both face and name recognition, Kal Penn has certainly achieved that level of success. The Smile cast member, along with being known for the Harold & Kumar franchise (which helped normalize diversity in movies), has had notable roles in everything from hit TV comedies like How I Met Your Mother and The Big Bang Theory (much to the appreciation of Kunal Nayyar), and popular dramas such as Designated Survivor and House, all while racking up nearly 100 credits on his resume.

His early career, however, was filled with one-off appearances on shows like Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Boy Meets World, Spin City, Angel, and ER. One role that seems to have changed his trajectory is his part as Taj in 2002’s Ryan Reynolds-starring comedy, Van Wilder. While being interviewed recently for the Hasan Minhaj Doesn’t Know podcast, Penn was asked about his audition for that film, which he spoke about in his 2021 memoir, You Can’t Be Serious. Minhaj asked him to talk about it, because the experience sounded “like a piece of fiction,” leading Penn to say:

Seeing as how Penn’s heritage is Indian American, and the role of Taj for was someone who shared that background, he understandably assumed that another guy of Indian heritage was also in the running for the part. However, when he got to the final audition, he was met with quite the surprise:

I have to say, he almost definitely handled the shock of seeing a white guy in brownface better than I think I would have. I think it probably says a lot about him that he wasn’t immediately angered, but just trying to figure out how this man had come to the decision to do such a thing and actually carry it out. As he said, “actors are desperate.”

Also, he clearly bears this man no ill will, because not only did he look him up while writing his book, to see if he could talk to him about it, but he also made small talk with him while they were waiting to audition and then “hung out” with him a couple of times after that, and never mentioned the brownface. Penn continued:

As much as he didn’t blame the guy for doing everything possible to get that job, seeing him at the audition galvanized him and likely ended up helping him in his final audition. As he added later, the very reason he got the role of Kumar later was because he’d been in this big studio comedy in a "supporting lead role". The rest, as they say, is history.