Kal Penn Tweeted Out Actor Breakdowns That Were Super Racist
Harold & Kumar star Kal Penn decided to shed light on how Hollywood viewed people of color in the 1990s.
The actor (many don’t realize he served under President Obama as White House Associate Director of Public Engagement) tweeted out old pictures of audition scripts, which have breakdowns like “Gandhi Lookalike” or “Snake Charmer.” Most of them were guest starring roles on shows like Sabrina the Teenage Witch and King of Queens.
At one point, the actor describes how during an audition for a commercial, he was forced to use Vaseline to create a “sweaty unwashed look.” He also said he got “INTO it” with producers of Sabrina the Teenage Witch when they required him to have an Indian accent: “I’m laughing about it now but they were such d*cks.”
Check it out:
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
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
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
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
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
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!
— Kal Penn (@kalpenn) March 14, 2017
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