Kalpen Suresh Modi (born April 23, 1977) is an American actor, author, comedian, and former White House staff member in the Obama administration. He is best known for his role as Kumar Patel in the Harold & Kumar movie franchise. He is also known for his roles as Lawrence Kutner on the television program House, White House staffer Seth Wright on Designated Survivor, Kevin in How I Met Your Mother and Nikhil Ganguli in the film The Namesake (2006). In early 2009, Penn was offered the position of Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs, which he accepted, necessitating his character Lawrence Kutner being written out of the TV series House. In 2020, Penn wrote a memoir called "You Can't Be Serious". While promoting this memoir, Penn announced that he and his boyfriend of 11 years, named Josh, were engaged

KNOWN FOR

Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
2013
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2023
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
2007
Late Night with Seth Meyers
2019
The Daily Show
2023
The Kelly Clarkson Show
2019
American Horror Story
2022
The View
2022
House
2007
The Late Late Show with James Corden
2021
Sesame Street
2024
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
2011

FILMOGRAPHY

All
Movies
TV
Acting
113
Producing
3
2026
Trust Me, I'm a Doctor
as Dr. Sandeep Kapoor · unreleased
2026
Industry
as Jay 'Jonah' Atterbury
2025
The Kelly Clarkson Show
as Self - Guest Host
2025
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
as Self - Contestant
2025
Celebrity Weakest Link
as Self - Contestant
2025
Name That Tune
as Self - Contestant
2024
The Underdoggs
as Ryan Kauffman
2024
Sesame Street
2023
Schoolhouse Rock! 50th Anniversary Singalong
as Self
2023
Impractical Jokers
as Self
2023
Scott Pilgrim Takes Off
as Ventakish (voice)
2023
The Daily Show
as Self - Guest Host
2023
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2022
Smile
as Dr. Morgan Desai
2022
The Santa Clauses
as Simon Choksi
2022
Celebrity Wheel of Fortune
as Self - Contestant
2022
The View
as Self - Guest
2022
The Tamron Hall Show
as Self - Guest
2022
American Horror Story
as Mac Marzara
2021
Hot Mess Holiday
as Kal Penn
2021
Untitled Horror Movie
as Mark
2021
Clarice: Behind the Scenes with Stars and Producers
as Self
2021
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
as Self - Guest
2021
The Late Late Show with James Corden
as Self - Guest
2021
Clarice
as Shaan Tripathi
2021
CBS News Sunday Morning
as Self
2020
The Girl in the Woods
2020
Mira, Royal Detective
as Mikku (voice)
2020
Kal Penn Approves This Message
as Self - Host
2020
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
as Self - Guest
2019
Finding Your Roots
as Self
2019
Late Night with Seth Meyers
as Self
2019
The Big Bang Theory
as Kevin Campbell
2019
Sunnyside
as Garrett Modi
2019
The Kelly Clarkson Show
as Self
2019
A Little Late with Lilly Singh
as Self
2018
The Ashram
as Nitin
2018
Fancy Nancy
as Mr. Singh (voice)
2017
The Layover
as Anuj
2017
Once Upon a Time in Venice
as Rajeesh
2017
Speech & Debate
as James
2017
The Problem with Apu
as Self
2017
Superhuman
as Self - Host
2017
To Tell the Truth
as Self - Panelist
2017
The $100,000 Pyramid
as Self
2016
Better Off Single
as Brice
2016
Deadbeat
as Clyde
2016
Designated Survivor
as Seth Wright
2016
New Girl
as Tripp
2016
Match Game
as Self - Panelist
2015
The Sisterhood of Night
as Gordy Gambhir
2015
Emily & Tim
as Tim (Segment 2)
2015
The Girl in the Photographs
as Peter Hemmings
2015
Battle Creek
as Detective Fontanelle
2015
The Big Picture with Kal Penn
as Himself - Host
2015
The Soup
as Self
2014
A Prayer for Rain
as Motwani
2013
Dementamania
2013
The Big Brain Theory
as Self - Host
2013
We Are Men
as Gil Bartis
2013
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
as Self - Guest
2013
Hollywood Game Night
as Self
2012
Top Gear
2011
A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas
as Kumar Patel
2011
Harold & Kumars Yuletide Jamz
as Kumar Patel
2011
How I Met Your Mother
as Kevin Venkataraghavan
2011
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
as Self
2009
We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial
as Self
2008
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay
as Kumar Patel
2008
Harold & Kumar Go to Amsterdam
as Kumar
2008
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
2007
Epic Movie
as Edward
2007
The Namesake
as Gogol / Nikhil
2007
House
as Lawrence Kutner
2007
24
as Ahmed Amar
2007
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
as Henry Chanoor
2006
Superman Returns
as Stanford
2006
Van Wilder 2: The Rise of Taj
as Taj Mahal Badalandabad
2006
Man About Town
as Alan Fineberg
2006
Bachelor Party Vegas
as Z-Bob
2006
Deck the Halls
as Amit Sayid (uncredited)
2006
Awesometown
as Guy Reading Newspaper
2006
Independent Lens
as Jagdesh
2005
A Lot Like Love
as Jeeter
2005
Son of the Mask
as Jorge
2005
Sueno
as Raj
2005
Dancing in Twilight
as Sam
2004
Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle
as Kumar Patel
2004
Ball and Chain
as Bobby
2004
Homeland Security
as Harrison
2004
Independent Lens
as Vandana's Fiancee
2003
Love Don't Co$t a Thing
as Kenneth Warman
2003
Where's the Party Yaar?
as Mo
2003
Malibu's Most Wanted
as Hadji
2003
Regarding Ardy
as Fred
2003
Cosmopolitan
as Vandana's Fiancee
2003
Tru Calling
as Steven
2003
All About the Andersons
as Doctor George
2002
National Lampoon's Van Wilder
as Taj Mahal Badalandabad
2001
American Desi
as Ajay Pandya
2001
Angel
as Young Man in Fez
2001
ER
as Narajan
2001
The Agency
as Malek
2000
Spin City
as Buddy
2000
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch
as Prajeeb
1999
Freshmen
as Ajay
1999
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
as Hunt
1998
Express: Aisle to Glory
as Jackie Newton
Brookfield
as Kumar Zimmerman
Patel
What the F*ck Is My Password?!
Contra
as Dale Stone
Untitled Harold & Kumar Sequel
as Kumar Patel