Breaking into Hollywood as a leading actor has always been difficult, but for Asians it has been next to impossible. Though there has been plenty of opportunity for Indian actors to play cab drivers, 7-11 clerks or medical students with incoherent accents, the standard leading man has been—for the most part—out of reach. Kal Penn has experienced firsthand the latent racism that still pervades the Hollywood system, though he did manage to break through with a leading role in the raucously funny teen comedy, “Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle” (2004). Prior to his breakout, Penn was relegated
