Kal Penn spends his days at the fictional White House on ABC's "Designated Survivor." But the actor took to Twitter to remember the days when his acting career's survival meant auditioning for a number of offensive roles. Penn shared a peek at a script from a commercial where he played a "Pakistani computer geek" and another project where the character, named Rajid, talked about "elephant dung." He also highlighted problematic characters he auditioned for on shows like "Smart Guy" and "King of Queens." All of those series noted by Penn ran in the late '90s and early '00s. More recent years have seen Hollywood showcase actors of Indian descent in roles that broke aged and harmful stereotypes. Penn doled out praise for series like "The Steve Harvey Show," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Angel," and "24," He also praised "House" creator David Shore. Penn played Dr. Lawrence Kutner on "House" from 2007-09.
