Kal Penn tackles a new role: White House liaison

At that point, the New Jersey-born Penn did what any good actor would do: He thought the new role over and talked the whole thing through with his manager, agent and accountant. "This is really what I want to do," he told them, "but am I crazy?" Maybe not, but assuming he's making something close to the $50,000 per episode that's standard on shows like "House," somebody's percentage is going in the toilet when he begins collecting the circa-$70,000-a-year salary his new gig pays.

It also wasn't easy to leave the role of Dr. Lawrence Kut- ner on the hit Fox series, Penn said. (For the record, the show's producers say they're "thrilled" that their actor will be working at the White House.) "I was having a great time" on the show, Penn said during the conference call. "The word I still use to describe it is bittersweet. It's not like I'm retiring from acting; I certainly intend to come back at some point. Right now, I just felt like my calling was in public service."

The move was immediately applauded by politically active members of the Hollywood community.

"Appointing Kal Penn is a wise and strategic move that should foster a strong and productive relationship between the White House and Hollywood," said industry political advisor Chad Griffin. "Not only is it beneficial that the White House liaison to the creative community is a member of that community, Penn is very smart and well-versed on policy and politics."

Griffin added: "He combines the advantages of having access and of being able to clearly and convincingly communicate the White House's and the industry's priorities."

Penn won't be accepting any acting jobs during his White House stint, which he expects to last for two years or so. Although he hasn't lived in Washington before, he says that he's "definitely looking forward" to being part of the inside-the-Beltway social swing, which is as intense as Hollywood's -- though with worse food.

That leaves him with one more decision: what to do with his L.A. home? Prices of sublets in D.C. are falling, but surely that agent and manager told him nobody but the desperate sells in this market.

Who knows? By the time the White House casts the rest of its Hollywood ambassadors, Obama's stimulus package really might have taken hold.

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tina.daunt@latimes.com