Kal Penn changed name to get more roles

Asian-American actor Kal Penn, who starred in The Namesake, changed his real name Kalpen Modi so he wouldn't get stereotypical roles.

Asian-American actor Kal Penn, who starred in The Namesake, changed his real name Kalpen Modi so he wouldn't get stereotypical roles.

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Penn believes he wouldn't have got the roles he has if he had remained with his original Indian name.

Contactmusic.com quoted him as saying: "There were a couple of friends who said, 'If you use Kalpen Modi on your resume, you'll probably be more limited to roles. Whether it's less letters or a neutral sounding name, am I trying to sound less ethnic? Yeah. But I didn't want to come up with a completely separate name that has nothing to do with my own. So I just took my first name and split it in half."

Penn believes his decision was a good move saying, "My parents' friends said that in ancient Hindu numerology the sequence of three letters and seven letters all together, with that combination, is considered very lucky."