Kumar is going the White House

[Tribal Warfare]

'House': The Truth Behind the Shocking Surprise
By Mindy Monez, TWoP | Tuesday, April 7, 2009, 2:34 PM


Kal Penn leaves one "House" for another
FOX/Joseph Viles/FOX

Warning: This entire post is a discussion of this week's "House." If you care about what happens on "House," but not enough to have watched last night's episode, do not read on. For everyone else, here's some much-needed explanation about what happened – and why – from cast member Kal Penn and executive producers David Shore and Katie Jacobs.



As you've probably heard by now, Kutner killed himself because Penn got offered a job at the White House and has chosen to put acting on hold for a bit to take the gig. We're totally serious. Obviously, this is all a huge surprise, so Kal and the two EPs got on a media call today to help us all understand it a little better. We still think it was a cheap, sensationalistic stunt that made little sense whatsoever, but that's just our opinion. See what you think...



Were you taken aback at all when they told you they were going to kill you off?
Kal Penn: Obviously, yeah. I mean, you're connected to the character you play, and I loved playing Kutner, so there's a little bit of shock and loss -- more than a little bit of shock and loss -- when I found that out also. So yeah. I was probably as shocked as the audience was when I first found out.



When exactly did you find out Kutner was going to kill himself?
KP: I think I found out when we were shooting episode 17 or maybe halfway through 18, and the first thing I asked David Shore was 'Do you want me to change anything? Do you want this to be informed that he's struggling with something?' And the answer was you know -- not really. This is something that comes out of left field in episode 20, and we don't want to lead anyone on and we don't want to mislead anyone, it just is what it is and there's no explanation for it.



Were those your legs [when Foreman and Thirteen found Kutner]?
KP: They were, yeah.











Can you talk about your decision to leave the show and how long this has been in the works?
KP: Growing up I always had two interests and two passions, one being public service and the other being arts and acting, so it's always been on my mind, I always try to engage in different public service projects, and in the last 18 months having had the opportunity to serve on the Obama campaign, I certainly started thinking about that possibility, and then when that opportunity came up I went to David and Katie and sort of talked about it. It is a little insane because this was an incredible show to have been a part of -- there were certainly no problems -- if anything I was having a great time. I have a tremendous amount of respect for the writers and other actors and obviously David and Katie, so it was tough all around. The word I still use to describe it is bittersweet.



What exactly is the new job?
KP: The job itself is that I will be an associate director in the White House Office of Public Liaison, and what the OPL does is similar in a sense to what I was doing on the campaign. What they try and do is take the administration itself out of Washington, so they go into communities across the country, continue the sorts of dialogue people had started during the campaign and basically ensure that a bunch of citizens' views about their elected officials, about their government are all happening and that they're working effectively. Make sure that a lot of these new voices that have emerged -- especially during the campaign season -- are brought to the table -- Democrats, Republicans, everyone in between - and to build those relationships and kind of embody the types of changes that President Obama had run on.



Just to clarify -- you did talk to the President about this?
KP: Yes, we discussed it briefly.



Does this mean no more "Harold & Kumar" movies?
KP: [Laughs] That's probably true, yeah.



Do you have any plans to run for office some day?
KP: [Laughs] No.



Does the job allow for any acting projects during your tenure at all?
KP: I won't be acting while I'm working at the White House, no. There's no set time limit -- I definitely intend to go out there for at least a year or two and figure it out. So we'll see. I'm certainly not retiring. I'm not packing up and saying, 'I'm leaving Hollywood' or anything, it's just pursuing another passion right now.



Was it really a suicide for sure, going forward?
Katie Jacobs: Oh, it was a suicide. It was a suicide.



Why have Kutner kill himself, instead of sending the character off another way?
David Shore: I guess obviously stirring the pot brings something to any show. Look, Kal came to us with his opportunities and we were very excited for him, but it created a creative problem for us. I'm very happy with the way it worked out. It gave us an opportunity to do something unexpected, and what's fascinating about it is it's a question that House can't answer, and he's the man who has the answers to everything. And it's just so unexpected for the Kutner character and that was what was really exciting about it -- the unexpected nature of it, and the fact that there are no simple answers, and nothing that House can figure out.



Will someone be brought in to replace Kutner?
KJ: There is no replacement for Kutner.



Did you consider any other ways to have the character leave?
DS: We considered many ways to have the character leave. Ultimately this was the story that allowed us to really have the greatest impact on House in particular. There's an impact on everybody, but in particular the man who craves answers not having an answer. That is what really excited us about this story.