Actor-comedian
Kal
Penn
has
come
out
as
gay
and
has
revealed
that
he
is
engaged
to
Josh,
his
partner
of
11
years,
with
whom
he
is
planning
a
wedding.
Penn,
who
is
one
of
the
most
prominent
Indian-American
actors
in
Hollywood,
shared
his
story
in
an
interview
with
CBS
Sunday
Morning
programme
while
promoting
his
new
tell-all
memoir
"You
Can't
Be
Serious".
"Josh
and
I've
been
together
for
11
years.
We
had
our
11th
anniversary
in
October.
"So,
writing
about
it…
it's
very
matter-of-fact
in
our
lives,
and
when
you're
the
son
of
Indian
immigrants
who
says
that
you
want
to
be
an
actor,
the
chaos
that
that
creates
in
your
family
and
your
community,
will
trump
anything
else,
always,"
the
44-year-old
actor
said.
Penn,
whose
real
name
is
Kalpen
Suresh
Modi,
broke
out
with
the
2004
comedy
"Harold
&
Kumar
Go
to
White
Castle" alongside
his
co-star
John
Cho.
The
film
spawned
two
sequels
and
he
went
on
to
star
in
Mira
Nair's
acclaimed
family
drama
"The
Namesake"
(2006),
the
Fox
series
"House",
and
"Designated
Survivor",
the
ABC
show.
The
actor
took
a
hiatus
from
acting
to
campaign
for
President
Barack
Obama
in
2012.
He
worked
within
the
administration
in
the
office
of
public
engagement,
working
to
connect
Asian
Americans
and
Pacific
Islanders.
Penn
met
his
fiance
during
his
time
working
in
Washington,
D.C.
The
actor
said
he
"discovered
my
own
sexuality
relatively
late
in
life" compared
to
many
other
people.
"There's
no
timeline
on
this
stuff.
People
figure
their
sh*t
out
at
different
times
in
their
lives,
so
I'm
glad
I
did
when
I
did,"
he
later
told
People
magazine.
"I've
always
been
very
public
(about
my
relationship)
with
everybody
I've
personally
interacted
with.
I'm
really
excited
to
share
our
relationship
with
readers.
But
Josh,
my
partner,
my
parents,
and
my
brother,
four
people
who
I'm
closest
to
in
the
family,
are
fairly
quiet.
They
don't
love
attention
and
shy
away
from
the
limelight."
Published
by
Simon
&
Schuster,
"You
Can't
Be
Serious"
hits
the
stands
on
Tuesday
and
the
actor
said
he
hopes
people
enjoy
the
book.
"I
hope
it
makes
people
laugh
and
smile,"
he
added.
Penn
said
he
and
Josh,
whose
last
name
has
not
been
revealed,
are
trying
to
work
out
the
wedding
plans.
"Obviously
I
am
engaged
to
a
man
and
our
families
will
be
there
for
the
wedding.
The
big
disagreement
now
is
whether
it's
a
huge
wedding
or
a
tiny
wedding.
I
want
the
big
a**
Indian
wedding.
Josh,
hates
attention,
(he
has
said),
'Or
we
could
just
do
a
quick
20-minute
thing
with
our
families
and
that's
it.' So
we
have
to
meet
halfway
in
the
middle,"
the
actor
added.