Armed with questions sent in by Gather members, the Gather Editorial Team interviewed actor Kal Penn about his experience as the lead in "The Namesake," which opens in theaters on March 9th. Mr. Penn most recently appeared opposite Kevin Spacey in "Superman Returns," the Emmy award winning series "24" and as the lead in National Lampoon's "Van Wilder: Rise of the Taj."
Directed by Mira Nair ("Mississippi Masala," "Monsoon Wedding," and "Vanity Fair") and based on the novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jhumpa Lahiri, “The Namesake" spans two continents, two generations, and two cultures. Penn stars as Gogol Ganguli, a first-generation Indian American struggling to find a balance in his life. The ensemble cast includes Kal Penn, Jacinda Barrett, Zuleikha Robinson, Tabu and Irrfan Khan.
I enjoyed reading "The Namesake". I noted the subtlety of the emotional and character development of Gogol. Kal, did you find it a challenge to explore the gradual change in this character, after having the fun of the over-the-top character of Kumar who only gets serious at the end of the film? Chris W.
I saw it as a very welcome challenge. It was a really refreshing opportunity, especially because I was a huge fan of the novel to begin with. It was really fascinating to me and interesting and truly a gift to have this novel to refer to because Jhumpa's writing is so vivid as Chris pointed out. Everything from the circumstances of Gogol's birth and his naming, right down to what it was like for him in nursery school, what his life was like in high school, where he had his first kiss at a party with a college girl, where he lost his virginity in his dorm room at Yale, his ATM password…Every intimate detail that you're used to creating as an actor when you develop your own back story, all of that is provided for you with this novel so it was definitely the most welcome challenge that I have had in my career so far.
Did you find that you felt any connection with your character, Gogol, or maybe shared any of the same experiences? Countess Dracula
In some ways, yes. I know a lot of the assumptions about myself in real life and Gogol the character is that I probably really was attached to that character because of our shared history, both being Americans of Indian descent and so on, but I think that is only true to a certain extent, and the extent to which it is true in this case is that the character arc belongs to Ashima, Gogol's mother. She's the one who from start to finish goes through the whole Indian versus American identity struggle and being caught between two worlds.
But Gogol, like myself, was born in the States and is very comfortable being an American of Indian descent. In my opinion, he doesn't really see being Indian and being American as being mutually exclusive. To him being American is nationality and being Indian is ethnicity. That's how I feel as well.
The interesting connection between the two of us is that other people in our lives always bring up ethnicity and nationality as if they are mutually exclusive. For example Gogol's girlfriend in the movie and book, Maxine, asks him "Do your parents want you to marry a nice Indian girl?" That's the furthest thing from his mind. He says "Well, I don't care what they want. This is what I want." It's the same thing with his wife. At one point during an argument she says, "Maybe it's not enough that we are both Bengali." And his response is "That's not why I love you." So he is always confronted by other people with this issue of identity, and I can definitely relate to that to a certain extent. But I think that's where it ends.
The more interesting things about Gogol that I found were his passion for his job, why he decides to be an architect, and how he really is so interested and impassioned by the fact that architecture encompasses engineering, as well as art, as well as politics and the list goes on and on. That's a really interesting career choice for him. I thought it was interesting that he is always attracted to strong women. He's attracted to Maxine because she's pursuing an arts degree and an M.F.A. and he's attracted to Moushumi who has a PhD. in French Literature. She teaches college and she got the opportunity to teach at the Sorbonne. These are the things that I found most interesting. So it's not really the ethnicity or the culture. It's the stuff after that, the things that really make a person tick.
I have met two people over the years who claim that the novel saved their lives - even as a student of world religions, myself, I found the novel to be enlightening in an entertaining way, and there is a constant feeling of a great knowledge about to be revealed. If you read it did you also feel the awakening that many people felt? That is to say the feeling of having known about the energies that are subtly explained in the novel? How did you get that across in the movie? Isabel Stewart
I think that is probably a better question for Mira [director Mira Nair] because it deals with the novel overall. When you approach something like this as an actor, you primarily focus on your character and the relationships that your character has with others in the story, so in this case and even though this is very much Ashima's story for the most part, as Gogol, you focus on Gogol. It is straight forward human behavior. Any time you are interacting with others, that selfish human nature thing kicks in and it's got to be all about you. But I will say that being a fan of the novel and a huge fan of Mira and the whole film making process itself, you're always aware of all of the things Jhumpa described. One of the things that really resonated with me about the novel and about the film is that it is a very positive and very hopeful story despite all of the issues of loss and love. It's ultimately a story about family and a story about hope. That's really rare to find that in either a book or a film. I cried when I read the book the first time. That's rare for me because I have no attention span and books rarely make me cry. And I cried not because I was depressed, but because there was this human element of hope that Jhumpa brings out in her writing.
Surprisingly, I thought that it was just me and my weird reaction to the book. And then I saw a couple of early screenings of "The Namesake" and people were walking out of the theater crying and then they would reach for their cell phones and I was really disheartened by that because I thought, "Oh, man. They're depressed by it and now they're going to check their voice mail? That's lame." But what was happening, across the lobby, was that they were picking up the phone and dialing a number and I would hear them say, "Hey Dad. Hey. I just wanted to say hi." It was crazy to me because that really showed me that the same reactions to the same images of hope created by the book were translated in the film. That was a really great feeling so I think that is more of a testament to Jhumpa and Mira than anything else.
Have you personally dealt with racism and if you have, how did it affect you and your view of other people? Shawnee T.
Yes, I have. I guess most people have, I would imagine. Racism comes in multiple forms. Growing up in New Jersey in the 80s, there were racial gangs known as the Dot Busters who would go around terrorizing a bunch of Indian American communities so that was something that I was aware of. That is an overt example. Then there are things as subtle as not having opportunities and access to education and jobs in the mainstream. And these are all things that involve race and racism. It's not always somebody burning a cross on your lawn. In fact, the more mainstream forms of racism are more latent than that. How does it affect your world view? I mean you can always take the cynical route. I think overwhelmingly it shows how stupid that sort of thinking is. It's a tricky question. On the one level, there are multiple forms of racism. I think the most dangerous ones are the ones that are more subtle.
I have taken some history classes on the subject of India, but there is a gapping whole in our media for the cultural aspect of Americans from India. (I am interested in learning but I haven't been able to find much in the way of media outlets for it (in English anyway).) I will admit I have not read the novel, but what do you think the average American can take away from this movie about the culture of Indian-Americans? Looking forward to the movie - seriously, not just saying that. Good to see you getting serious on us. Tyler W.
It is tough for me to answer that question because I didn’t really see anything in the novel as eye opening culturally because I saw it more as a universal family story. When I spoke to friends of mine who were not of a South Asian background, they took a lot away from it in terms of Bengali culture. Bengal is a state in India that is remarkably different from other states in India, primarily because they have a Communist government. They have a really progressive society that focuses a lot on art. They have one of the highest literacy rates in all of India. And that translates a lot into Bengali American culture because there is more of a focus on the arts and poetry and things of that sort. There are those elements in the story. I think that is one of the better ways to learn about a different culture, when the story is so universal that everybody can relate to it and there are elements of culture that are very normally put into the story instead of something that focuses solely on culture and has no story. This is just the opposite of that. It focuses on culture. It focuses on things that people can relate to.
What do you like better about working on a smaller budget movie like this, rather than a huge-budget, special effects film like Superman? Cabran C.
I think the two are totally different. I think it really depends. One of the great things about a film like this with a lower budget is that you're shooting guerilla style filmmaking. When we were in Calcutta, we were in a city of millions of people and you can't really block off the street like you can if you had a bigger budget or if you were shooting on a studio lot pretending that it is Calcutta. A small budget on a film like this has its challenges but overwhelmingly I think it is a huge asset to the film because the city of Calcutta is just as much a character as Gogol or Ashima, so to not have the luxury of having the money to do it elsewhere, you really are giving not only the audience but the story a lot more justice.
You were a Sociology and Film double major at UCLA. What do you think is most valuable about your Soci degree? Liz K.
Neither sociology nor film or theater are known as practical majors. But I really liked sociology because it helped me learn a lot about people citing the world around you, which as an artist, really informs the roles that you take and the access that you have to peoples' behaviors and the ways that people live their lives. Things that I've learned in class have come up. For example, I just did an episode of "Law and Order: SVU" and there was a criminology class and a sociology of deviant behavior class that were useful in creating that character and the same certainly goes for "The Namesake" and even "Superman Returns." There are elements of studying something other than acting that help you bridge the gap between your character and the world in which he lives.
Gather Editorial: Kal, unfortunately we have run out of time. We thank you for your time and wish you the best of luck with the success of "The Namesake."
Kal: Thank you very much guys. I really appreciate it and enjoy your website.
Read more on Kal Penn’s role as Gogol Ganguli here. Penn stars in “The Namesake”—in theaters starting Friday March 9.
Kal Penn was interviewed by Jennifer Hodge, Associate Editor of Gather and Elizabeth Khoo, Editorial Coordinator, Gather.
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Comments: 11
I have found firsthand that no amount of money can compensate for passion in any art-based project. Yet tons of money can snuff out all the creativity in a project. Somewhere along the line the misguided belief that money guarantees passion and talent has damaged many of the arts in today's world.