YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS

In this refreshingly candid memoir, Kal Penn recounts why he rejected the advice of his aunties and guidance counselors, and instead of becoming a doctor or "something practical," embarked on a surprising journey that has included acting, writing, working as a farmhand, teaching Ivy League University courses, and smoking fake weed with a fake President of the United States, before serving the country and advising a real one.

YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS is a comedic memoir tracing Penn's unlikely career arc from nerdy American kid from an immigrant family in the New York suburb of Montclair, New Jersey, to world-famous actor, to White House staffer under President Obama, and back to actor again. It's a mix of ridiculous, funny, reflective, and goofy moments that happen to any of us, but are amplified in Hollywood and Washington D.C., the arenas where Kal made his career. It's about being the son of immigrant parents - people who came to this country from India with very little, went very far, and whose definition of success probably never included their son sliding off an oiled-up naked woman in a raunchy Ryan Reynolds movie. As Kal says, "I'm proudly the embodiment of the American Dream."

But it was almost never easy. The book addresses the hurdles Kal faced with racist producers and casting directors, and the struggle of making it in industries where he was constantly reminded that he didn't fit in. It's also about the scary, rewarding decision to leave one life behind, and start another. After spending 25 years fighting his way to success in Hollywood and building a career as an actor and producer in movies like the Harold and Kumar series, he decided to walk away from money, status, and even parts of his identity, and leap into politics. As someone who feels like he's been there, he addresses anyone who has nursed a quiet passion and asked themselves: "What really matters to me? What doesn't? Is now the time to tackle that thing?"

Above all, with intelligence and humor on every page, it's a story about how you can have more than one story. It's about showing, by example, that no matter who you are and where you come from, you have many more choices than those presented to you. It's about struggle, triumph, and learning how to keep your head up.
And okay, yes, it's also about whether Kal smoked weed with Michelle Obama or not - because let's be honest, that's what you really want to know.

Penn has played leading roles in some of the world's most-watched television shows, including How I Met Your Mother, 24, Designated Survivor, House, and more. He currently stars in the CBS series Clarice, a sequel to Silence of the Lambs, and the Disney Junior animated series Mira, Royal Detective. He was also the co-creator and star of the NBC/Universal comedy Sunnyside, and host, co-creator, and executive producer of a six-episode series in October 2020 for Disney's Freeform Channel called Kal Penn Approves This Message, aimed at entertaining and informing young voters. On the big screen, Kal has starred in movies that have collectively grossed more than a billion dollars, including the Harold and Kumar franchise, National Lampoon's Van Wilder, Superman Returns, The Namesake, and many other critically-acclaimed blockbuster titles. He has also served as an Adjunct Lecturer in Sociology and Film Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, and in Sociology and Political Science at the University of California, Los Angeles. Kal has worked at the very highest levels of politics, as an Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, where he was President Obama's Liaison to Young Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and the Arts communities in America. He was born and raised in New Jersey.