Kutner And Kal Go To White House
Okay, so I tried to warn you in yesterday’s post with a spoiler alert, but it’s all over the interwebs today so I guess everybody knows by now: Dr. Lawrence Kutner, played by Harold and Kumar actor Kal Penn, committed suicide on Monday’s episode of House:
Here are the six things you need to know up-front about last night’s House:
• Yes, Kutner was the subject of my “suicide” blind item.
• No, his death wasn’t a figment of House’s Vicodin-impaired imagination.
• Yes, Kal Penn has left the show for good.
• No, he wasn’t fired. He asked to go. (And man, wait ’till you find out where he’s going.)
• Yes, this was the “cataclysmic” event that Hugh Laurie has been teasing all year.
• Yes, the trio at the center of this grim turn of events — exec producers David Shore and Katie Jacobs, as well Kal Penn himself — spoke to me exclusively about the surprising story behind Penn’s exit, the decision to have the seemingly well-adjusted Kutner take his own life, and whether the tragedy will drive House-Cuddy and Cameron-Chase closer together or further apart…
And what is Kal’s next career move? Starring in his own real-life version of Mr. Penn Goes To Washington:
I understand it was your decision to leave House. True?
KAL PENN: Yes. I was incredibly honored a couple of months ago to get the opportunity to go work in the White House. I got to know the President and some of the staff during the campaign and had expressed interest in working there, so I’m going to be the associate director in the White House office of public liaison. 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. It’s similar to what I was doing on the campaign.Will you actually be working in the White House?
PENN: This particular office is in the executive building. The White House has two buildings: the actual White House and an old Navy building called the Old Executive Office.Are you there as long as Obama’s in office?
PENN: A lot of that stuff is up in the air. This is a relatively recent development.Safe to say you’re taking a huge pay cut?
PENN: Oh, yeah. There’s not a lot of financial reward in these jobs. But, obviously, the opportunity to serve in a capacity like this is an incredible honor.
He goes on to say that he isn’t necessarily retiring from acting, but taking a bit of a hiatus for a while to pursue this new avenue in his life.
And y’know…as ticked as the departure of the character makes me (I really liked Kutner, he was one of my favorites), I have to say good on Kal Penn for not only talking the talk but walking the walk. I can’t say as I necessarily like where he is going, but at least he is putting his money where his mouth is, not just flapping his yapper about how much he hates things going on in politics but never actually does anything about it. I think that transcends political parties and ideology. Entirely too many celebs like to spout off their half-baked ideas about how stuff ought to change; but put them in an actual Washington office where there are no fawning sycophants and yes-men and groupies to scratch their every itch, and they’d wither away like a hothouse flower in a penguin colony at the South Pole.
So, to get back to the show, it will be interesting to see just how this plays out over the rest of this season. I wish they would not have killed off the character, maybe made him attempt it but not succeed and then cart him off to a mental hospital for recovery or something, but maybe there’s a story arc going on here that needed this to happen.
(I still think it should have been Thirteen.)
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He spoke to you exclusively? Why did I hear this on NPR this morning?
Comment by Moses — April 8, 2009 @ 11:41 am
Huh? Who said he spoke to me exclusively?
Comment by k — April 8, 2009 @ 2:53 pm
We created a few shirts for the show house. Including one for Kutner.
Check them out at:
http://bs-clothing.com/t-househome.aspx
Thanks,
BS-Clothing
Comment by bs-clothing — April 8, 2009 @ 11:47 pm
I think an “Auto-Immun” shirt would be much funnier than Lupus
Comment by Realyn — April 9, 2009 @ 6:50 am
I really hope they delve into the psycholgy of sicide…I know, I know, I know, House is anti-psycholgy, but speaking as the sister of someone who has commited suicide and the high school best-friend of some one else that commited suicide this is the perfect opportunity to delve into the complex issues surrounding those that have commited suicide and the loved ones that are left behind to pick up the pieces, answer the un-answerable questions, and live with the what if’s and might-have-beens for the rest of their lives. It is one of the reasons after a 25 year abscence from school I have chosen to go back, and get my master’s and possibly doctorate in psych.
For anyone out there comtiplating suicide…PLEASE remember it is a permenant solution to a temporary problem, and your friends and family will NEVER get over it…It has been 25 years since I lost my best-friend, and 3 1/2 years since I lost my sister.
Comment by Kelly K. — April 14, 2009 @ 11:11 pm