Kal Penn Interview, The NameSake

Movies Online recently sat down with actor Kal Penn to discuss his new film, "The Namesake.” Spanning two generations, two clashing cultures and two very different ways of life that crash into each other only to become lovingly intertwined, "The Namesake” is ultimately about the imminently relevant question: what does it mean to be an American family?

In her most personal film to date, acclaimed director Mira Nair ("Vanity Fair,” "Monsoon Wedding”) brings to the screen a poignant and transporting version of Jhumpa Lahiri’s best-selling novel, which won reader’s hearts across the world with its exploration of the ties that can both tangle and bind global families as they brave the modern vicissitudes of change, conflict and disaster. The film’s screen adaptation was penned by Sooni Taraporevala, with whom Nair previously collaborated on "Mississippi Masala” and the Oscar®-nominated "Salaam Bombay!”

Jumping between the equally colorful and vibrant cities of Calcutta and New York, "The Namesake” is a family drama, but it’s about a very different kind of contemporary American family: the Gangulis, who come to the U.S. from India in order to experience a world of limitless opportunities – only to be confronted with the perils and confusion of trying to build a meaningful life in a baffling new society.

On the heels of their arranged marriage, Ashoke (Irrfan Khan) and Ashima (Tabu) jet off from sweltering Calcutta to a wintry New York where they begin their new life together. Virtual strangers to one another and with Ashima now living in a new and very strange land, their relationship quickly takes a turn when Ashima gives birth to a son. Under pressure to name him quickly, Ashoke settles on Gogol, after the famous Russian author – a name that serves as a link to a secret past and, Ashoke hopes, a better future. But life isn’t as easy for Gogol as his parents might wish.

As a first-generation American teenager, Gogol (Kal Penn) must learn to tread a razor-thin line between his Bengali roots and his American birthright in the search for his own identity. As Gogol attempts to forge his destiny – rejecting his given name, dating a rich American girl (Jacinda Barrett), heading to study architecture at Yale – his parents cling to their Bengali traditions. But their paths keep crossing with both comic and painfully revelatory consequences . . . until Gogol begins to see the links between the world his parents left behind and the new world that lies in front of him.

Kal Penn is the most recognized South Asian face on the American screen today. Born and raised in New Jersey, Penn trained extensively in theatre in the New York metropolitan area. Penn most recently appeared opposite Kevin Spacey in Bryan Singer’s "Superman Returns,” the Emmy award winning series "24” and in the lead role in "Van Wilder: Rise of the Taj.”

After graduating from UCLA Penn went to work with a supporting role on HBO Films’ Emmy-Award winning comedy "Express: Aisle to Glory” followed by appearances on "Spin City,” "Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” "Sabrina the Teenage Witch” and "The Steve Harvey Show.” Penn quickly transitioned to features with roles in "National Lampoon’s Van Wilder,” "Malibu’s Most Wanted,” and "Love Don’t Cost a Thing.” In 2004 Penn had a lead role in the hit film "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle.” This was followed by roles in "Son of the Mask,” "A Lot Like Love,” "Dancing in Twilight” and "Man About Town.” Penn can next be seen in the 20th Century Fox release "Epic Movie” and the "Untitled Harold and Kumar Sequel.”

Here’s what Kal Penn had to tell us about his new film and working with Mira Nair:

KAL PENN: Have you seen the film?

Q: Yeah. Heartfelt is a good way to describe it. I'm wonder about your sense of it because in many ways your life story parallels the character.

KAL PENN: Not really. There are some parallels like obviously being first generation of Indian parents but that's not really to me what the story is about at all. I think the identity portion of the story is Ashima's character. She's the one who really goes through the real identity arc and fitting in with American society. Gogol on the other hand is born and raised in America. He's an American of Indian decent. He's bilingual and he's comfortable with all that and it's other people who always take issue with his identity. Those are I guess the parallels that I've always been very comfortable with. Identity stuff and I'm always weirded out when people ask me questions about it. Do you feel more Indian or more American? Like are they mutually exclusive? I didn't know they were. They're not to me unless you're Native American. Everyone's from somewhere so why do you have to pick one? I think Gogol encounters that a lot even with his girlfriend Maxine. She asks him if his parents want him to marry a nice Indian girl and he's like 'I don't know. I don't care what they want. What I want is something else.’ Same when he finds out his wife is cheating on him. She actually has the audacity to say maybe it's not enough that we're both Bengali as if that's what made him love her. That's not why he loved her. He loved her because that's who she was. So those are some of the similarities I guess. Neither Gogol nor myself are uncomfortable with who we are, but people constantly feel the need to quantify you as one thing or another.

Q: This is kind of a change from how we're used to seeing you....

KAL PENN: I hope so.

Q: It's good and I was wondering the reason why you took the role. Is it an opportunity to show something about your culture?

KAL PENN: No, not at all. Again I don't think it's about culture. I think it's a very universal American story. If anything else, it’s about family. I don't think it’s about culture. At least that's not what I focused on because again I think that’s Ashima's character not Gogol's character. I wanted to do the film because I loved the book and I loved the book because it reminded me of "The Catcher in the Rye” which I know is a completely different book from this one, but for some reason I was really drawn to "The Catcher in the Rye” and Holden Caulfield. I'm not a rich white kid who went to boarding school in Nebraska but for some reason I loved Holden Caulfield. The thing that got me into drama school was doing a monologue adapted from...I took the first 3 pages of the beginning of chapter 3 of that book and that was my monologue and nobody had ever done that as a monologue and they were impressed by that. You don't look like a vision of Holden Caulfield at all so similarly for some intangible reason I really felt attached to Gogol and "The Namesake” and it wasn't because of the ethnicity thing. It was for something that I really haven't figured out.

Q: I think one of the things people are used to seeing you in are the broad comedies and you certainly can't argue with a film that opens at #1 and the success of Harold and Kumar notwithstanding. Is it particularly satisfying to you to be able to get a role that shows your acting range?

KAL PENN: Yes, very much so. "Van Wilder--The Rise of Taj” and "Epic Movie” are not particularly challenging acting wise at least. I say that particularly in comparison to having the opportunity to work on a novel, a film adaptation of a novel written by a Pulitzer prize-winning author. That's insane. You literally have a manuscript to base your character off of that you don't have with some of the broader comedies and I think there's a ....I'm not trying to say there's no intrinsic value to those comedies. I think that there is and I think that people forget about the day to day pattern. They go and they laugh and they eat popcorn and make out with their girlfriend and then they go home. But this is very much a different type of film and I welcome that also.

Q: Is this sort of the direction you'd like to go with your career more or would you like to leave the possibility open for more of those slapstick comedy type films?

KAL PENN: I like to do both. I'm working on the second Harold and Kumar right now. I think up until the past couple of months...the assumption is any actor can be picky about the roles that you take. I don't think that's true. I think that it's just now that I hope "The Namesake” will let me be a lot more picky with the things I take. I would love to do films like Harold and Kumar and I'd love to do more Namesake. I was able to choose the role in "24” and an episode of "Law and Order” that I did and I really am thankful for that. I really like telling stories, and I like doing the outrageous comedy things, and I like doing something like "The Namesake,” and I hope to continue doing both of those but maybe on my terms more.

Q: Going back to Harold and Kumar for a second. I know you guys are filming. I read an article in the LA Times about it which talked about the story and gave some pretty good details. Could you give a little synopsis as well? How is Neil Patrick Harris again?

KAL PENN: Sure. Well one of the LA Times articles says that I don't say anything that isn't.....

Q: A lot of people haven't......

KAL PENN: Okay. The story starts out with us intending to go to Amsterdam. Similar to not actually making it to White Castle immediately in the first one, we don't quite make it to Amsterdam immediately in the second one. Stuff happens along the way. Stuff I think is funnier if I don't describe it in intimate detail then it will be much more pleasing for the audience. Neil is back. We haven't shot any of his stuff yet. He comes in I think next week for about 2 weeks and I'm really psyched that he's back. Christopher Meloni is back as ...he's playing a clansman, the Grand Wizard I think of the KKK. James Adomian, who is a great actor/comedian, is playing George Bush. You can sort of see where the plot goes. Rob Corddry is playing a Homeland Security deputy.

Q: Are there any other celebrity appearances because we've heard some rumblings?

KAL PENN: Who have you heard because I've.....

Q: Last week there were like 12 different people who they mentioned and off the top of my head ....Dave's name came up, Chris, and I can't remember who else.

KAL PENN: I keep hearing that Snoop Dogg may be in it which I'm very excited about, but I haven't heard if that's confirmed or not. I heard a couple of names back and forth, but a lot is based on scheduling and whether or not people can make it in and whether or not they will do it. I don't know. The ones I mentioned are definite. Danielle Harris who's on "One Tree Hill” is playing Kumar's ex-girlfriend. Let me brainstorm while we talk about other stuff. I'm trying to think about who else is in it.

Q: Is it still called "Go To Amsterdam”?

KAL PENN: I don't know. Right now it's called the "Untitled Harold and Kumar Sequel.”

Q: I thought it might be "Go To Louisiana”?

KAL PENN: It's definitely not "Go To Louisiana.” I don't know if it going to be "Go To Amsterdam” or not.

Q: Your costars in this film are really terrific and they are people that American audiences don't get to see too much at all. What was it like working with them? Is it different than working on a Harold and Kumar movie?

KAL PENN: Yeah. Well, it's different stylistically also. Harold and Kumar is a broad comedy with really subversive political elements that half the audience gets and the other half doesn't, and that's okay if you get it or don't because that's what the movie is for, whereas "The Namesake” is a very different type of film.

Q: Is there a different feel with these actors?

KAL PENN: Well, I think especially Irfan and Tabu who play my parents are huge actors in Bollywood and so for them to come over I think this was a very different medium for them. And for me I'd done mostly broad comedies, broad teen comedies so it was a very different medium for me also. So the three of us sort of met in the middle and had this amazing opportunity to work with Mira Nair on this dream project.

Q: In the press notes, it said that you were actually inspired to start acting after watching Mississippi Masala? So how was that for you? Did it come full circle to actually be directed by her?

KAL PENN: It did. I saw "Mississippi Masala” when I was in 7th grade I think, 6th or 7th grade. It was one of the things that inspired me to go into acting. I ended up reading a lot about Mira Nair and seeing her other films. The ones in the past and the ones that came out since, and she became this role model who I never met while I was pursuing a career in acting. So yes, having a chance to work with her now is incredible. It's even better than I would have thought as she was inspiring me to be an actor.

Q: One of her signatures I think is her use of music and I found it very interesting that the wedding night scene turns out to be a musical number. How did that help in terms of getting the rhythms of the world that's being created, having that musical element?

KAL PENN: That particular scene or just in general?

Q: That particular scene, but also in general, because I think music is something that's very important to her.

KAL PENN: Music is always the last thing added to a film. I know Nitin Sawhney did the score for the movie and a lot of the songs are not decided until late in the editing stages. For me as an actor, music actually plays a huge part in preparing for the character. I always call the writer or email the writer and ask for a list of ....what are the top 10 CD's this character would have? If I don't have them in real life, I go out and buy them and put them on my iPod and listen to them constantly looped when I'm driving to work or at the gym, whatever. I think music plays a huge part in our personalities and what defines us, especially if this character is listening to something completely different from me. I think it's really important to listen to that sort of music constantly.

Q: Do you play air guitar on your own?

KAL PENN: I don't but I'm glad that that Pearl Jam thing worked out. The book is set about 10 years before the film is set, so I was pitching the idea of Pearl Jam, and I said we have to get a Pearl Jam song. They were using some temp music from some local band from the lower East Side and I said it's not the same as Pearl Jam in the late 90's or the mid-90’s, trust me. Mira totally got it. She said ‘I know, but we can't use Pearl Jam unless Pearl Jam approves it, and Pearl Jam won't approve it unless they see the film.’ So you have to show them the film before they agree to use it, and we decided to shoot the scene once with the track they already had with this local band and half the time with this Pearl Jam song playing hoping they would agree to it. I guess Eddie Vedder and those guys own all the rights to license their music for film. So they must have watched it and agreed to it.

Q: Have you met him yet?

KAL PENN: No, I really want to. I'm a huge fan.

Q: I was going to say that definitely had to be.....

KAL PENN: Yeah, I'm a huge, huge Pearl Jam fan.

Q: You described it as a universal American story. I see it as part of the immigrant saga, but it's repeated. We've seen the story of the Irish, the Jewish, and the Italians, although more mobsters in some groups than others maybe. I wonder about the sense of re-discovering your culture. I think that's one of the things that Gogol goes through. That's interesting, that does echo throughout that. That people, especially the second and third generations, have pushed it aside and then they discover there's something about the culture they want to return to or at least preserve.

KAL PENN: I didn't find that actually. I think it depends on how you read the characters. I actually found what Gogol returns to is his sense of family. I think that sense of family is very universal. I don't think that he returns to any sense of ethnicity because I don't think he's ever lost his sense of identity throughout the course of the film. I think what he has lost is what's equally universal. You go off to college or you move to a different city from where you grew up, you talk to your parents less. You slowly talk to your friends less who you've grown up with. In Gogol's case, he gets caught up in living with Maxine. He's living with her family, he's living in the Upper East Side in this beautiful multimillion dollar brownstone, and it's not until his father passes away that he realizes he's been ignoring his own family and that he's felt a little bit burdened by his own family. He remembers when his dad lost a parent, he shaved his head. Gogol remembers that and he's like well, I loved my father so I'm going to shave my head when I go home. There's even a little bit of dialogue with the mom who says you know you didn’t have to do that. Well I wanted to do that because that's who I am and that's how I mourn the loss of my father because that's just what you do. I don't think he ever really lost any sense of cultural identity. I think what he lost was a very universal element of family that I think everyone goes through at some point or another.

Q: What are you doing after Harold and Kumar?

KAL PENN: A pilot for ABC called "The Call.” We'll see after that.

Q: Can you tell us about it real quick?

KAL PENN: Yeah, sure. "The Call” is the same producers who do "24.” It's a single camera, half-hour comedy about two EMT's in Los Angeles.

Q: Who's the other EMT?

KAL PENN: I don't know yet. I'm not sure.

"The Namesake” opens in theaters on March 9^th.