Acting versus working for the President? Which would you choose? House actor Kal Penn has decided to take a break from acting and is heading to Washington D.C. to work for President Barack Obama.
Penn called KOST 103.5 yesterday morning to set the record straight on his sudden departure from House. His character, Lawrence Cutner, committed suicide on Monday night’s show and left fans wondering what went wrong.
“I am not retiring from acting…It’s not a Joaquin Phoenix style walk away (and) never come back. I still have a passion for it. But for the time being, I won’t be acting. I got to know the President and some of the staff during the campaign and had expressed interest in working there, so I am going to be the associate director in the White House of public liaison.”
This is not the first opportunity that Penn has had to work with Obama. In 2007, during the Actors Guild strike, Penn pulled up stakes and moved to Iowa to worked exclusively for the campaign. The 31 year old campaigned mostly on college campuses. He intended to stay two days and became so caught up in it that he ended up staying for a month.
His new gig will have him acting as a liaison to Asian-American groups. It won’t be a stretch for Penn, who taught a course at the University of Pennsylvania on Asian studies in 2008 and admits that he has felt the strong call to public service.
Check out the photo of Penn with the cast of House and a video of Penn on the Obama campaign trail, followed by a video tribute to his character on House.
Photos: WENN