Kal Penn played Lawrence Kutner in the television series House, M.D.
Kutner joins House’s expanded diagnostic team during the fourth season after House dismisses and evaluates a large group of applicants. He is portrayed as energetic, inventive, and willing to take unusual risks in pursuit of a diagnosis. The character’s sudden departure became one of the show’s most discussed story developments.
Penn left the regular cast in 2009 to work in the Obama administration. In the series, Kutner’s absence is explained through a suicide storyline, and House struggles to understand why he did not recognize warning signs. The plot was fictional, while Penn’s real-world career change was the production reason for his departure.
Penn had also appeared in the Harold & Kumar films and later played Seth Wright in the television series Designated Survivor. He is sometimes confused with Omar Epps, who played Foreman, or Peter Jacobson, who played Taub.