Kal Penn: Why Fans Still Love Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle

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.