First, he went to White Castle. Now, actor Kal Penn is heading to the White House. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly’s EW.com, Penn (whose character on “House” committed suicide in this week’s episode) revealed that he’s accepted a position in the White House Office of Public Liaison.
“They’re basically the front door of the White House,” said Penn in explaining his new job. “They take out all of the red tape that falls between the general public and the White House. It’s similar to what I was doing on the campaign.”
And yes, he admitted, he’s taking a huge pay cut. “I’ve been thinking about [moving into politics] for a while,” he said. “I love what I do as an actor. I couldn’t love it more. But probably from the time I was a kid, I really enjoyed that balance between the arts and public service.”
Executive producer David Shore told EW, “Kal is a man with broader ambitions than the entertainment industry. So he spoke to us and said, ‘I love the show and I love working with these people, but there are things that I would like to do.’ And you sort of think, ‘That’s admirable, but there’s no way he’s going to do it.’ This is a good gig he’s got here.”
Penn joins other OPL staffers with connections to the arts and entertainment, such as David Washington, who has acted as Jennifer Lopez’s political consultant, and Yosi Sargent, who worked with artist Shep Fairey to promote the now-iconic “HOPE” poster. We also heard that actress Tatyana Ali, from “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” fame, will be joining the staff soon “in some capacity.” She and Penn traveled through South Carolina last year while they campaigned together for the President.
