Posted Aug. 1, 2004.
Kal Penn and John Cho are running late for their interview. It's easy to make assumptions about the people in the movie business but this is the first major press circuit for both of them. D.C. is the midway point on their 11-stop national press circuit and they're set to sit for a last-minute interview in The Ritz Carlton Georgetown before they move on.
As they walk into the lobby any comparisons to the Hollywood brat pack end. Like their counterparts in the movie, they are on an adventure. Penn, who plays Kumar, is carrying a video camera and a digital camera. He is dressed as if he has stepped right out of the movie. Cho exudes an air of down-to-earth politeness that echoes his character from the movie, Harold. As he walks through the lobby thanking the members of the promotion company, it's clear that both Penn and Cho were a pleasure to work with.
Although they come off as life-long friends, Penn and Cho first met during the three-month long casting and audition process. Penn explains that he was cast first and jumped at the opportunity to be involved in a movie with an Indian lead role. However, Cho's interest in the movie was sealed when he realized that it represented a unique approach to race.
"An audience is following two Asian leads, instead of being caught up in the polemics," Cho said. "The audience is engaging on an emotional level, not an intellectual level, so it's more effective than an intellectual debate."
There is a pause, giving Penn and Cho the opportunity to take small sips of their espresso. It may be that these guys are exhausted, but they're just getting warmed up.
"When they tested the trailer ... the one that says, 'with that Asian guy from 'American Pie' and that Indian guy from 'Van Wilder' - when I first saw that cut ... I was kind of irritated," said Penn. "The movie dismantles all of those notions. So I kind of said, 'I'll sign off on it if it says "directed by that white guy who did 'Dude, Where's My Car?'"
No matter how much people don't want to talk about it, it's easy to see that minorities have more trouble getting lead roles.
"Just because you're mentioning race on all three, there's still a far longer history of misrepresentation of Asians and Indians," Penn continued. "Something just didn't rub me the right way about it until I started talking to people who had seen it in theaters and sat in on the screenings. What I found was people were sitting in the theater going 'that's that Indian guy from "Van Wilder"' and suddenly the announcer says the same thing and they are immediately connected to it. The end result is the trailer is actually doing what the movie does and bringing you in with the false notions that you already have."
Deeply enveloped in a race discussion, Cho sips his coffee and clears his throat.
"The other thing that trailer does to me is, it serves the underdog affection that the movie has going for it," Cho said. "Audiences are like, 'Hey, we've seen those two in smaller roles and I'm glad they've got their shot at the big time now.' Even on an industry level people are rooting for it. There's a feeling that if this movie can make it ... make some money, then there will definitely be doors opened."
But the question remains whether this movie reinforces negative stereotypes. Penn says it doesn't.
"I think there's a difference between being stereotypical and reflecting a certain reality. After 1965 there was an act called the Asian Exclusion Act that was lifted that allowed [Asians] to come into the country to fill particular shortages in labor, mainly engineering, pharmacy, medicine - so it was a form of affirmative action that allowed fairly wealthy or educated people to come over, from particularly India," Penn said. "So what you have in the second generation is parental pressure that is misconceived as being ethnic pressure and this is reflected in the movie."
There is a strange silence and it seems that was Penn's slam dunk - he has fulfilled his race debate requirements for the day and sadly is about to be launched into a frankly outdated discussion on marijuana. Their coffee's finished, Penn and Cho sit politely while they get bombarded with questions of morality and marijuana. Penn politely fulfills his press duties, explaining about how they were sure to use seatbelts whenever they smoked and drove. Honestly, who cares, obesity kills more people than marijuana each day so why no talk about fast food? So there's talk about fast food.
Penn and Cho explain that they were at White Castle for their Hall of Fame introduction and it was a very exciting and enjoyable event. Their choice fast food though, is not perhaps what many would expect. Penn says that though he has Jersey pride, hands down, he loves the Veggie Burgers at Harvey's in Toronto. Cho says that he has always loved Burger King.
It's easy to want the best for these two guys, they are refreshingly different and, at the same time, gentlemen in the classic fashion. One can only hope that "Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle" does exceedingly well.
