Kal Penn and John Cho: 'Harold & Kumar' have grown up

Kal Penn and John Cho: 'Harold & Kumar' have grown up - Kal Penn and John Cho have matured a bit since their iconic Harold and Kumar characters escaped Guantanamo Bay and the pair hopes that fans have also grown in time for "A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas."

"The cool thing, to account for just life changes in general, are that the characters now are six years older than the first two movies and our audience is also grown up," Penn told OTRC in a press junket for the film. "The core audience that enjoyed these movies when they were 21or 22 now they're settling down, now they're dealing with the same issues that Harold and Kumar are dealing with in these movies. We we're hoping we could still retain that sense of bizarre humor and age with them."

In the third installment of the stoner comedy, Harold (Cho) and Kumar (Penn) have grown apart and started their own families. But when Kumar shows up on Harold's doorstep and inadvertently burns down his father-in-law's Christmas tree, the two set out on an another ill-advised adventure to find the perfect replacement.

Neil Patrick Harris also returns to the franchise to reprise his character Neil Patrick Harris, a drug-addicted, womanizing version of himself.

Though the films tend to contain plenty of marijuana-fueled adventures, Cho believes that their fans are an intelligent bunch.

"We've always felt that our audience has been deceptively smart... people want to write our audience off and say a bunch of stoners, but they're so smart," Cho told OnTheRedCarpet.com. "The scripts have always had a lot of things going on in it. There are fart jokes and then there's political jokes and what have you and everyone seems to absorb all the material."

When asked to describe the best present they've ever received, Cho had an interesting request for his wife Kerri.

"I remember being most excited over getting the millennium falcon when I was a little boy and I can't, that excitement has not been matched," Cho said. "Baby you still have a chance to redeem yourself this year... Get me a concubine... And name her Falcon."

Aside from the "Harold & Kumar" franchise, Penn portrayed Dr. Lawrence Kutner on "House M.D." and had a recurring role on "How I Met Your Mother." The actor has also appeared in films like "Van Wilder," "The Namesake," "Van Wilder 2: The Rise of Taj" and "Epic Movie."

Penn has also worked off-and-on at the White House as an Associate Director at the Office of Public Engagement.

Penn, whose real name is Kalpen Modi, left his recurring role on "House" in 2009 to begin his first job at the White House. He resigned in June 2010, citing "previous obligations" and filmed "A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas," but has since returned to his role.

Prior to taking the job in Washington, the 34-year-old actor often appeared on the campaign trail with Barack Obama during his 2008 presidential campaign.

Cho portrayed Demetri Noh on "FlashForward" and has appeared in all three "American Pie" films (and will appear in the upcoming "American Reunion"), "Smiley Face," "Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist" and "Saint John of Las Vegas."

Cho portrayed Hikaru Sulu in the 2009 film "Star Trek" and is slated to reprise his role in the upcoming sequel. He will also appear in the upcoming "Total Recall" remake, but when asked which he thinks will garner more attention, the actor knew his answer immediately.

"'Star Trek.' Yeah, 'Total Recall' will, it will come out and I'm sure it will... have a lot of fans," Cho said. "But 'Star Trek' has uh a leg up on 'Total Recall' in the sense that's it's been around for generations."

"A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas" hit theaters on November 4, watch a trailer below.

via: OTRC