Kal Penn

When the script writers elect to kill off a popular television series character with a suicide instead of a car crash, you know that somebody needs to make an exit that's fast -- and within budget. That's exactly what Kal Penn, a member of the ensemble cast that has helped make "House" such a hit for Fox, needed this week when he announced he is putting aside acting, at least for now, to become an associate director of the White House Office of Public Liaison.

INDIAN-BORN director Mira Nair missed all the fanfare around the 2003 publication of "The Namesake," Jhumpa Lahiri's critically acclaimed second book examining the cultural struggles between first-generation Bengali immigrants and their American-born children. Nair, whose other credits include "Salaam Bombay" and "Monsoon Wedding," was filming "Vanity Fair" in England during the first part of the year.

Kal Penn, known for his role as a stoned underachiever in the "Harold & Kumar" movies, is putting aside the doobie -- and his role as Dr. Kutner on Fox's "House" -- in exchange for a new job at the White House. The actor has been hired as an associate director at the Office of Public Liaison, where he will help the Obama administration connect with arts and entertainment groups as well as the Asian and Pacific Islander communities, according to an Associated Press report. Entertainment Weekly broke the story Tuesday in an interview on its website in which Penn stated that he will "do outreach with the American public and with different organizations."