Kal Penn starts White House job

WASHINGTON, July 7 (UPI) -- Actor Kal Penn has begun his new career as an associate director in the White House's Office of Public Engagement in Washington.

A White House spokesman confirmed to The Washington Post that Penn started the job Monday.

The 32-year-old actor campaigned for newly elected U.S. President Barack Obama last year and recently quit his job on the TV medical drama "House" to go work for the Obama administration.

Penn, a UCLA graduate who also co-starred in the "Harold and Kumar" film comedies, previously told the Post he doesn't plan to accept any acting jobs for the next year or two because he wants to focus on his government position dealing with the youth, arts and Asian-American communities.

The Chicago Sun-Times said Penn moved from Los Angeles to an apartment in Washington and spent the July 4 weekend unpacking.

"I think they are completely different careers," the Sun-Times quoted Penn as saying during a conference call with reporters Monday. "In my past life, I was playing a fictitious character and while I think that is enjoyable, I think that the lifestyle here is going to be a lot different. We are doing some very serious work and I am certainly very eager to get started on all that."