Kal Penn has said it before and he'll say it again: Representation matters.
Long before becoming a best-selling author and working with President Barack Obama, the actor helped launch the franchise Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle. While it's been more than 15 years since the first movie hit the big screen, Kal remembers how tricky it was to get the project out to the masses.
"When Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle came out, I remember so clearly…the reason it got greenlit was there were two junior execs at New Line who were given this sort of baby," he exclusively shared with E! News. "They're like, you get to greenlight one movie a year and they chose to greenlight Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle. The older people around Hollywood, the older people in town were like, ‘We don't know if America is ready for two Asian American men as leads in a comedy.'"
Both Kal and his co-star, John Cho, found the script to be hilarious. As a result, the pair was determined to make the project work.
Although the film wasn't a box office smash upon its 2004 release, it gained a large—and loyal—following overtime.
"The only reason it took off was because when it came out on DVD, people started buying it and gifting it to each other and it had nothing to do with studio marketing execs," Kal said. "Sometimes we underestimate audiences because the Harold and Kumar audiences, the core audience wasn't just Asian Americans. It was people from all walks of life."
With that in mind, Kal continues to be a supporter of diversity and representation in Hollywood. On March 23, he stepped out for a pre-Oscars event celebrating South Asian Excellence in film. Although the actor plans to watch the 2022 Academy Awards at home in his pajamas, he couldn't turn down the opportunity to celebrate the success of his peers on the big screen.
"When you don't see yourself on screen, it limits your view of what might be possible in your own life," he explained. "And there might be exceptions to that but…it's incredible that something like this exists."