In a series of tweets, Penn shared almost 10 scripts that offers only stereotypical roles.
Indian American actor Kal Penn actor Kal Penn on Tuesday took to twitter and shared some of the racist audition scripts he was given at the beginning of his career.
Penn, who is best known for his roles in Harold & Kumar, House and How I Met Your Mother, shared almost 10 scripts that offers only stereotypical roles to the Indian American actor.
“Found a bunch of old scripts from some of my first years trying to be an actor,” Penn tweeted and shared the script that offers the roles of a Gandhi lookalike, snake charmers and fire eaters.
“They were awful,” he added. “’Can you make this accent a little more AUTHENTIC?’ That usually meant they wanted Apu.”
Found a bunch of old scripts from some of my first years trying to be an actor. pic.twitter.com/GydOwlUKGW
— Kal Penn (@kalpenn) March 14, 2017
Jeez I remember this one! They were awful. "Can you make his accent a little more AUTHENTIC?" That usually meant they wanted Apu pic.twitter.com/3F5XRORO3n
— Kal Penn (@kalpenn) March 14, 2017
Penn, who served in the White House under Obama administration, recalled his role as a pilot named Parmesh in The Stone for which he tried to convince the makers to allow him to speak without an accent but was told no.
This was a pilot called The Stones. Tried to convince them to let me speak without an accent & make it funny on the merits (was told no) 😂 pic.twitter.com/SuUVYT7rip
— Kal Penn (@kalpenn) March 14, 2017
Womp womp pic.twitter.com/fyonwmreBa
— Kal Penn (@kalpenn) March 14, 2017
Ha! In this audition for Smart Guy, they didn't even give the character a name! pic.twitter.com/z2D8E5rx8J
— Kal Penn (@kalpenn) March 14, 2017
Oh wait yes they did pic.twitter.com/xwB3qIoXoF
— Kal Penn (@kalpenn) March 14, 2017
He also admitted that he used to love the CBS show The King of Queens until he was auditioned for it. Penn also recollects one of his first commercials in which he played the role of a 25-year-old Pakistani computer geek.
Friggin King of Queens man! I used to love that show until I got to audition for it lol pic.twitter.com/2BYu0nnd57
— Kal Penn (@kalpenn) March 14, 2017
“Whoa I remember this! This was one of my first commercials. The makeup people would use Vaseline to get the sweaty unwashed look going,” he wrote.
Whoa I remember this! This was one of my first commercials. The makeup people would use Vaseline to get the sweaty unwashed look going pic.twitter.com/X7z4EI4drQ
— Kal Penn (@kalpenn) March 14, 2017
I do not remember this audition except that it was for some shitty MTV show and the big joke was an accent and too much cologne 🙄😂 pic.twitter.com/7HZbhQCkaB
— Kal Penn (@kalpenn) March 14, 2017
This was for some project called The Marriage Clause I guess. pic.twitter.com/0yKjepAHqy
— Kal Penn (@kalpenn) March 14, 2017
Sabrina the Teenage Witch! Man. We got INTO it about why he had to have an accent. I'm laughing about it now but they were such dicks 😂 pic.twitter.com/kXdHjVsqvT
— Kal Penn (@kalpenn) March 14, 2017
“There are too many in this stack to tweet, I’ll be here all day. That said, there were also some wonderful 1st audition & work experiences!” he continued and praised shows like ‘24’, ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’, ‘The Steve Harvey Show’ and ‘Angel’ that “didn’t have to use external things to mask subpar writing.”
There are too many in this stack to tweet, I'll be here all day. That said, there were also some wonderful 1st audition & work experiences!
— Kal Penn (@kalpenn) March 14, 2017
Penn also gave a shout out to House creator David Shore, who practiced color- and gender-blind casting, describing the ways Hollywood can be progressive.
Stuff like Steve Harvey, Buffy, Angel, 24, really smart, creative people who didn't have to use external things to mask subpar writing
— Kal Penn (@kalpenn) March 14, 2017
Also when you cast things like @shorez, largely color & gender blind, it's more interesting & ratings can look like this. Which is awesome! pic.twitter.com/qr1f7vWASK
— Kal Penn (@kalpenn) March 14, 2017
Anyway getting off my soapbox & going to work. New Designated Survivor this week! Thanks for the love over the years 👍🏽😍😜
— Kal Penn (@kalpenn) March 14, 2017