One of Kal Penn‘s breakout roles was playing the character Taj Mahal Badalandabad in the 2002 comedy hit “National Lampoon’s Van Wilder.” At the end of the audition process, Penn was up against one other actor that ended up inspiring him to work hard to win the part. Penn recounted the story on the Feb. 11 episode of the podcast “Hasan Minhaj Doesn’t Know.”
“I knew at the end, it was like, ‘All right, it’s me and another actor,’” he said. “I’m like, ‘Which brother is it?’ I’m excited that one of us is gonna get this. I open the door and it is a white dude in brownface who’s already in the waiting room. And my beef is generally not with other actors. Actors are desperate. We’ll do whatever it takes to get a part, right? But I was so fascinated. I’m like, ‘Okay, did his agent tell him to paint his face when he left? Did he do it at home or did he do it in the bathroom? If he did it at home, did it increase his chances of getting pulled over by the cops?’ All of these thoughts going through my head.”
Despite his surprise, Penn said that he actually made small talk with the actor that day and hung out with him a few times afterward. But he also said it motivated him more than ever to get the role.
“Telling it now, you’re like, ‘Oh my God, people did brownface,’” Penn said. “Like the new ‘Aladdin’ a couple of years ago had brownface with a bunch of extras, right? So it does still happen, obviously in a totally different way, but it was common enough, right? But I do remember looking at him while we’re making small talk and in my head just saying to myself, ‘He is not allowed to get that part.’”
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