Kal Penn pulls a Joaquin?

Wow, quitting the acting biz seems to be the in thing to do these days. First it’s Joaquin Phoenix. Then Viggo Mortensen and Nicole Kidman talking about retiring. Mostly though, that’s all bullshit posturing and PR-mongering. HAROLD AND KUMAR star Kal Penn though is ready to put his money where his mouth is.

[SPOILER ALERT for TV’s “House” ahead…]

Penn has given up acting for the time being to take on a new gig…at the White House. The actor, who starred alongside Hugh Laurie in Fox’s hit series “House,” was killed off last night and not because he was a diva on set or it made for good ratings. He asked to be killed off so he could pursue a new gig working for the Obama administration. Penn, who had stumped for Obama on the campaign trail, was offered the job of Associate Director in the White House Office of Public Liaison and has accepted putting his acting career on hold.

Penn tells Entertainment Weekly that he’s “not necessarily” retiring from acting but that “for the time being” he won’t be acting any more. If you’re curious what exactly the Associate Director of the Office of Public Liason does, Penn describes it as such:

They do outreach with the American public and with different organizations. They’re basically the front door of the White House. They take out all of the red tape that falls between the general public and the White House.

I reached out to HAROLD AND KUMAR co-creator Jon Hurwitz to see what impact, if any, this would have on H&K3 (which he and partner Hayden Schlossberg were writing) but as of press time, I haven’t heard back yet. For now, best of luck to Penn for actually taking a path of less money and fame for something he believed in. Way to go dude.