--- title: Kal Penn Critiques Old Scripts Rife With Racial Stereotypes description: The actor took to Twitter to share TV scripts, from the early days of his career, that perpetuated racial stereotypes. canonical: https://time.com/4701267/kal-penn-racial-stereotypes-scripts-twitter/ author: Ashley Hoffman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-14T20:01:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:41:53.876Z og:title: Kal Penn Shares Racist Stereotypes in Old Audition Scripts og:description: On an "authentic" accent: "That usually meant they wanted Apu." og:url: https://time.com/4701267/kal-penn-racial-stereotypes-scripts-twitter/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd7db7242e81e42d2/6988b7c0524fc0a0f4dfae77/kale28094pen.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 2016 Conference On Diversity In International Affairs og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Kal Penn Shares Racist Stereotypes in Old Audition Scripts twitter:description: On an "authentic" accent: "That usually meant they wanted Apu." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd7db7242e81e42d2/6988b7c0524fc0a0f4dfae77/kale28094pen.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Kal Penn Criticizes Racist Stereotypes in Audition Scripts From His First Years Acting by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Mar 14, 2017 8:01 PM UTC  Kal Penn speaks at a conference on diversity in Washington on April 15, 2016. Kal Penn speaks at a conference on diversity in Washington on April 15, 2016.Kris Connor—Getty Images by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Mar 14, 2017 8:01 PM UTC [Kal Penn](http://time.com/4652906/kal-penn-crowdrise-refugee-twitter/) is simply not here for perpetuating racial stereotypes on your movie theater screens. The [_Designated Survivor_](http://time.com/3726408/kal-penn-battle-creek-interview/) actor took to Twitter on Tuesday to share screenshots appearing to expose culturally disparaging roles for actors in the entertainment industry. According to the star, who landed his first roles [in the late ’90s](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0671980/), he came across the language in everything from scripts for TV shows to commercials during his “first years trying to be an actor.” The snapshots of swatches of the pages reveal roles such as a “Gandhi lookalike” and “snake charmer.” Penn explained details about a “quirky Indian lab buddy” from a different project with this caption: “Jeez I remember this one! They were awful. ‘Can you make his accent a little more AUTHENTIC?’ That usually meant they wanted [Apu](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzoIJdjR5wA).” Penn’s tweets continue an ongoing conversation about representation in pop culture. It has also been fodder for TV shows, as in 2015, when Aziz Ansari’s Netflix series [_Master of None_](http://time.com/4111777/master-of-none-aziz-ansari-review/) ran an episode called “Indians on TV” that critiqued monolithic portrayals of Indian characters. Penn, who served as an associate director in the [White House Office of Public Engagement](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/13/fashion/kal-penn-returns-to-movies-from-the-white-house.html) under President Obama, has been outspoken on issues of racism in Hollywood and beyond. He [recently started a fundraising effort for Syrian refugees](http://time.com/4652906/kal-penn-crowdrise-refugee-twitter/) in the name of a Twitter troll who harassed him with a racist and xenophobic message, according to [_Entertainment Weekly_](http://ew.com/news/2017/01/29/kal-penn-refugee-donations/). He has raised $863,686 in donations for the International Rescue Committee so far. See below for Penn’s tweets. > [](https://twitter.com/kalpenn/status/841691178902904833) > [](https://twitter.com/kalpenn/status/841691596110348288) > [](https://twitter.com/kalpenn/status/841691958963818498) > [](https://twitter.com/kalpenn/status/841692492382773249) > [](https://twitter.com/kalpenn/status/841692955077406720) > [](https://twitter.com/kalpenn/status/841693183943815169) > [](https://twitter.com/kalpenn/status/841693775420354560) > [](https://twitter.com/kalpenn/status/841694893458259969) > [](https://twitter.com/kalpenn/status/841695881623662592) > [](https://twitter.com/kalpenn/status/841696870376361988) > [](https://twitter.com/kalpenn/status/841698805703671809) > [](https://twitter.com/kalpenn/status/841699439219744769) He closed by praising the casting on _House_. > [](https://twitter.com/kalpenn/status/841700319075667968) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4701267/kal-penn-racial-stereotypes-scripts-twitter/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4701267/kal-penn-racial-stereotypes-scripts-twitter/"},"headline":"Kal Penn Criticizes Racist Stereotypes in Audition Scripts From His First Years Acting","datePublished":"2017-03-14T20:01:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:41:53.876Z","description":"On an \"authentic\" accent: \"That usually meant they wanted Apu\"","url":"https://time.com/4701267/kal-penn-racial-stereotypes-scripts-twitter/","keywords":["Newsfeed","movies","celebrities"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd7db7242e81e42d2/6988b7c0524fc0a0f4dfae77/kale28094pen.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ashley Hoffman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd7db7242e81e42d2/6988b7c0524fc0a0f4dfae77/kale28094pen.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"2016 Conference On Diversity In International Affairs","caption":"WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 15: Actor and former White House Office of Public Engagement Associate Director Kal Penn speaks during the \" 2016 Conference On Diversity In International Affairs\" at the Council on Foreign Relations on April 15, 2016 in Washington","creditText":"Kris Connor—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4701267/kal-penn-racial-stereotypes-scripts-twitter/","name":"Kal Penn Criticizes Racist Stereotypes in Audition Scripts From His First Years Acting"}}]}] ```