Kal Penn is having a hard time distancing himself from Gogol Ganguli. The latter is Penn’s character in Mira Nair’s new film The Namesake-a generational tale about the struggle to reconcile ethnic and individual identity in the melting pot that is the US of A-and he flaunts some interesting similarities with the actor’s real life.
Both Gogol and Penn (whom you might remember as Kumar in the stoner classic Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle) are second generation Indians, born and raised in America. They both have name issues. In the film, Gogol keeps his real name a secret, favouring the more assimilation-friendly “Nick” in public. Coincidently, Penn was actually born Kalpen Modi, and abbreviated his name to better serve his career in show business.
However, while speaking with The Varsity from the movie set in Los Angeles, Penn was quick to dismiss most of the parallels between his life and Gogol’s.
What Penn does say he shares with Gogol is the experience of being misconceived as an Indian with an identity crisis. The popular conception of Gogol’s journey, as suggested by the film’s own press notes, is that he’s an American-raised Indian kid who must come to terms with his conflicted identity. But Penn takes a different view.
“Gogol is born and raised in America. He’s an American of Indian decent. He’s bilingual. He’s very comfortable with all of that. And it’s other people who always take issue with his identity. I’m always weirded out when people always ask me questions about it like, ‘Do you feel more Indian or more American?’ Are they mutually exclusive? They’re not to me. Unless you’re Native American, everyone is from somewhere else. So why do you have to pick one?”
Penn-who also plays a terrorist associate on 24-is giving voice to an anxiety widely felt in the ranks of ethnic actors working in America, who can seldom land a role or do an interview without addressing their heritage. Nevertheless, Penn didn’t have any apprehensions about chasing a role that could have him typecast as the go-to Indian.
A devoted fan of Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel of the same title on which The Namesake is based, Penn actually used to check into hotels under the pseudonym Gogol Ganguli. When he discovered that a film adaptation of the book-which he likens to The Catcher in the Rye-was in the works under the internationally acclaimed director Mira Nair (Mississippi Masala), Penn was eager to play Gogol for a larger audience than a few hotel concierges.
Penn penned a passionate letter to Nair, describing in detail all of the reasons he was the best actor for the part. By winning the director over, he earned the opportunity to headline a dramatic feature, a welcome break from all of the teen comedies he’d been getting typecast into.
“Van Wilder: The Rise of Tag and Epic Movie were not particularly challenging,” admits Penn, who’s counting on The Namesake to showcase his serious side and open up a wider range of future opportunities. “I hope The Namesake allows me to be a lot more picky with the projects that I take.”
Not that he wants to abandon his comedic roots altogether-he’s currently working on the sequel to Harold and Kumar. But it just might be nice for Penn to be seen as a versatile actor, and not exclusively as a comedian, or an Indian for that matter.
The Namesake opens in wide release March 9. Be sure to check out our Namesake contest on the next page to see how you could win free passes to a sneak preview!
