If Jon Stewart were to leave The Daily Show, Kal Penn would definitely be willing to take his place.
At the Global Citizens Festival on Saturday, September 28, Penn, 47, shared his dream of one day hosting The Daily Show. Stewart returned in February, nearly nine years after leaving office, and was scheduled to appear on Mondays during the presidential campaign. He also serves as executive producer.
“I had the opportunity to guest host on The Daily Show for two weeks last season, so we’ll see how it goes,” Penn told PEOPLE at the event. “I’ve been told that John is only coming back for one season. The meher part of me is like, I hope John stays on The Daily Show. I’m such a fan, I grew up on The Daily Show. That’s because. [it]”
Kal Penn and his fiancé Josh in New York City in March 2019.
James Devaney/Getty
“My role as an agent is when a team calls me and says, ‘John might be leaving after the election.’Are you still interested in the job?'” “I’m like, ‘Yes, of course!’ “It’s a feeling,” he continued. I’m still interested in the job! ”A lot of fun things are happening. I’m always so nervous during elections, so what I love about what I do in comedy is that I get a chance to do the opposite of stress. ”
Penn also expressed a desire to potentially appear in a fourth Harold & Kumar film. The third film, A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas, starring John Cho, premiered about 13 years ago. “Hopefully, I would love to do that,” Penn added.
The annual Global Citizen Festival’s mission is to “eradicate poverty, protect the planet, and demand equity,” according to its website. To receive free tickets to the event, fans must take action to end extreme poverty. In addition to Penn, this year’s attendees included Post Malone, Doja Cat, Lisa, Lau Alejandro, Jelly Roll, Ray, Benson Boone and Hugh Jackman.
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Penn told People about the importance of this effort, saying, “This also involves important partnerships, and how we raise money from the private sector and the public, wherever governments and leaders have failed us. “It also comes with the idea that there’s going to be pressure to figure out how to get results.” Supporting what nonprofits are doing to ensure poverty alleviation is so important to support just the concept alone. ”
Otherwise, the actor is keeping busy with several projects in the works. He is starring in the film “Trust Me, I’m a Doctor”, which is based on the 2017 book “Trust Me, I’m A Doctor: My Life Before, While and After Anna Nicole Smith” by Dr. Sandeep Kapoor. He will star in the film and also serve as executive producer. Set to be released later this year, Penn will play Dr. Kapoor, Smith’s personal physician during his final days. (The model and actress died at age 39 from an accidental overdose in 2007.)
Earlier this year, Penn played the role of Jinzan (Jinzan) in the English dub of Netflix’s Japanese animated film Imaginary.