Life in Hollywood may seem glamorous, but actor Kal Penn shared that the reality can at times be different.
Shortly after he came out as gay, he said he shared with his manager the difficulties in finding dates with people who wanted to be with you as you, and not you as a celebrity.
“I called my manager and I said, ‘Hey, I don’t know if this is ever gonna impact anything in work, but I’m just curious: How do actors meet nice people to date? Like how do you know that somebody that you’re dating wants to date you for you? Like what are the ground rules here, and is it any different?'” Penn asked, speaking on the Sirius XM Podcast Let’s Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa.
Entertainment Weekly reports Penn’s manager set him up for a sushi dinner with a gay co-worker.
“Why don’t you guys just grab sushi and have a conversation and you know, he might have thoughts for you,'” Penn recalls his manager saying, according to Too Fab.
The dinner proved interesting and unexpected.
“So listen, the first thing I just want you to know is like, just don’t worry,” the man who was a producer told Penn over dinner.
“He goes, ‘Yeah, I mean, I’m just gonna email you a list just of some guys and their photos.’ And I’m like, ‘Whoa, that’s so cool! Playing matchmaker already,'” Penn said.
“‘Yeah, and you know, they’re not that expensive, and they’re never gonna say anything, so you never have to worry about anybody saying anything.”‘
That’s not what Penn was expecting.
“I was like, ‘Sorry,I think you don’t understand,” Entertainment Weekly reported Penn said. “No disrespect to sex workers, but that’s not what I’m looking for. My question to you is, how do I meet a nice guy, go on a couple of dates?’ And he goes, ‘I don’t know anything about all that.'”
Penn announced in his book You Can’t Be Serious in 2021 that he is engaged to his boyfriend of 11 years, Josh. The actor says he is very private. 18 months later, there’s no official word on whether the two are now married.
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