(As Kumar puts it, I want something different that will really hit the spot.
I want the perfect food.)
But these friends werent the prototypical white bros glorified in every comedy of the time.
New Line Cinema/Everett Collection
Harold was Korean American.
Kumar was Indian American.
And the actors playing them John ChoandKal Penn were semi-obscure at best.
Despite solid reviews from the likes of Roger Ebert and A.O.
(The duo later co-createdCobra Kai.)
People just connected to these underdogs.
Hayden Schlossberg:They were based on kids we knew.
We came from a high school where there were a lot of East Asian and South Asian students.
We became really close friends with them.
One was named Harold Lee.
And we had a really good friend whose younger brother was named Kumar.
We hadnt seen those types of characters onscreen very often.
Their parents may have been immigrants, but they were straight-up American.
They decided to adhere to the ultimate screenplay credo: Write what you know.
And yes, we were stoned that night.
We thought there was something fun and relatable about that.
Schlossberg:White Castle was perfect.
What we didnt realize at the time was that White Castle embodied this late-night stoner-drunk destination.
The pair started writing the screenplay together in 2002.
The first draft was finished in just two weeks.
Schlossberg:We wrote the first draft in a very stream-of-consciousness way in a very short period of time.
Hurwitz:It spilled out really quickly.
Schlossberg:The second draft was more tailored and planned out.
We sent it to our agents as a writing sample.
But the moment they looked at it, they gave us a call and said, This is it.
Their thought was to let people read it without any pressure to buy.
And we started getting all sorts of calls.
Like, Hey, is anyone producing this?
That started a frenzy.
Nathan Kahane (producer):I had a small production financing company and was just starting out.
You should know these writers, but it will never be a movie.
I said to him, If youre going to make this movie, Im producing it.
I understood the movie on the first bounce.
With the money secured, the guys needed a studio for distribution.
New Line, known as The House that Freddy Krueger Built, rang the bell.
This was the first movie I really went to bat for.
I thought it was incredibly fun and emotional.
My argument was, What the hell do you think Cheech & Chong is?
I knew Tommy Chong was actually half-Caucasian, but I knew they didnt know that.
That seemed to work.
Hurwitz:This was the opposite situation of anything that happens in Hollywood.
Literally we wrote the script and started getting calls and sold it.
The studio only requested a few small rewrites.
They brought in the director [Danny Leiner, fromDude, Wheres My Car?
].It was the fastest experience!
We didnt want the reader to think these guys were foreign-exchange students.
In my memory, I really did go home with a paper script.
Kal Penn:Theres an area at the Grove in L.A. where you could have beer.
He wrote a script he wants to talk to you about.
But Jon and I started talking New Jersey basically its own ethnicity and then he sent me the script.
I printed it out on a very slow dot-matrix printer in my apartment.
I called him immediately after I read it because I laughed my ass off.
I know Vik Sahay [Chuck] auditioned for Kumar.
But even though every actor read for it, John and Kal still came out on top.
Penn:We were paid a gross of $75,000.
Hurwitz and Schlossbergs screenplay also featured a cameo appearance by the star of one of their favorite childhood series.
And we loved the idea of Neil Patrick Harris creating this persona of him thats nothing like Doogie.
So we met in New York City, and they were incredibly nice and generous and authentic.
Hurwitz:In my memory, our director Danny visited him in New York.
He was playing a character named Neil Patrick Harris.
Harris:It was very surreal that this Neil Patrick Harris was stealing cars and going to strip clubs!
The script couldnt be a framework.
Hurwitz:We were thrilled he was onboard.
Number two on our list was actually Ralph Macchio, who we now work with onCobra Kai.
Paula Garces:I read the script and couldnt stop laughing from beginning to end.
I wanted that part, so I auditioned the old-fashioned way and sent in a tape.
I felt very lucky that I got it.
I was like, I think we just hit the trifecta!
But before production could start, the team had to clear one more casting hurdle with the studio.
Ryan:This is accurate.
Its one of the realities in how movies get made.
He was in a Farrelly Brothers movie [Me, Myself & Irene].
Then we got Jamie Kennedy [who pees next to Kumar in the woods].
He said to me, How do you feel about improv?
So we improvised the scene, and he was obviously rooting for me to get the job.
The entire production was awesome.
[Reynolds pops up in a hospital scene.]
Kahane:I remember calling Ryans agent and was like, Is this happening?
He told me Ryan was totally supportive because Ryan loves Kal.
We paid him $10,000, and he was a beautiful man of his word.
Ryan joining that cast got the movie greenlit.
[Reynolds could not be reached for comment.]
Hurwitz:We had never spent any time on a film set.
Neither of us went to film school, so had never even made a student film.
We went to the set expecting to be a fly on the wall.
So in a way it was like fantasy camp.
[Leiner died of lung cancer in 2018.]
Kahane:There were a lot of night shoots because of the nature of the narrative.
And for a lot of us, it was our first studio R-rated movie.
We were determined not to face-plant and embarrass ourselves.
Cho and Penn bonded in a hurry to establish a credible onscreen friendship.
We went for a beer that night.
Penn:Thats exactly how it went down.
We had a great conversation about just the idea that this film was being made.
The 12-year-old versions of us could not have imagined it.
Like, Oh, this is awesome!
And we became friends.
He and I would sit with each individual actor and talk about their scenes and their intentions.
If they wanted to change their lines, wed hear pitches from them for jokes.
If we liked it, wed add it to the script.
Garces:Not to take away from my opportunity, but did I want to sniff cocaine?
Do I want to go crazy like Neil Patrick Harris?
I knew I was capable of doing all those things [as an actress].
But I knew thats not what my character was.
Thomas:Me and [David] Krumholtz knew each other in high school.
He was my North Star of funny teenagers.
And he came up with the majority of our funny improv.
One of those lines involved Krumholtz joking about Katie Holmes nude scene inThe Gift.
Thomas:I believe the entire Katie Holmes rant came from his filthy mind.
God, I hope she has never seen it.
Sometimes when youre making a movie and having a good time, you forget people may actually watch it.
Asked which scene was the funniest to film, Cho immediately refers to the sequence with Melonis Freakshow.
Cho:Meloni was a man with a plan.
He came in with a lot of ideas and was just throwing zingers all over the place.
Meloni:Yeah, I came to the writers with a thousand ideas.
They let me sing this song, The devils on the way …
I would just do crazy shit.
Cho:I was also so delighted watching this very handsome man turn into the ugliest man on Earth.
Meloni:There was a lot of rubber on my face.
They had to build the goiter that oozes.
There was a tube coming out of my neck for the boils.
And then I went, Where are the teeth?
The producers were like, We dont have the teeth.
We dont have it in the budget.
And I went to the guys and said, I will pay for the teeth.
Malin Akerman portrayed Freakshows ultra-frisky wife.
Then Malin came in during an open casting call and read for us.
She had everything she was funny, she was beautiful, she was a great actress and fearless.
It was a very easy choice for us.
She was a singer!
I loved the ridiculous humor and improv.
Theres nudity with a beautiful woman.
I just remember being so enamored by her layers of performance.
Harris, however, was not quite as freewheeling on the set.
Cho:He took things seriously.
He had his stuff worked out.
He was all business.
Penn:That was definitely the case for the first film.
Harris:Thats interesting.
I think when Im acting on film, I tend to be fairly precise.
And this was in the middle of the night, so we were filming in darkness.
I wanted to confirm I was effective so they didnt have to be there for so long.
I also probably didnt want anyone to think that I was actually like the version I was playing.
That I was really on hallucinogens.
The actors also single out filming with one particular non-human.
Penn:Theres a scene where a raccoon crawls into a car and bites Harold.
The raccoon was controlled by a puppeteer, and I couldnt stop laughing at the absurdity of this.
John would get out and stretch his legs every now and then.
I saw the puppet resting on the back seat.
I was just like, Hey, whats up, raccoon?
And the raccoon was like, Hey Kal, hows it going?
Like,Oh shit, I forgot the puppeteer was still back there.
Cho:Kal was so delighted by the puppet.
It was preposterous to watch a grown man carry on these conversations with a puppet all day long.
Hurwitz:Were into reactions.
We grew up on the Zucker brothers movies and the Farrelly brothers movies.
They had set pieces that made a whole audience roar with laughter.
And sometimes animals play into that kind of comedy.
The cheetah in the woods killed me too.
It was a real cheetah; we were worried that if we scared it, it would run off.
Hurwitz:There were no White Castles in Canada.
At the time, there werent even any White Castles west of the Mississippi.
Schlossberg:Our production team had to build a restaurant in Toronto.
I think White Castle helped out with some of the signage.
I remember driving to the set and seeing this White Castle and thought it was amazing.
A real pinch-me moment.
Hurwitz:That scene was so funny, though.
I remember laughing so hard that I had to walk outside because I was blowing the takes.
Now I can control myself.
Penn:I remember hoping that people would enjoy it as much as I enjoyed those weeks of shooting.
Id never had this kind of experience on a movie.
Cho:I never think anything Im in is going to be a hit.
But it did seem like it had a lot of things going against it.
You know, like, primarily us.
So I had a lot of worst-case scenarios in my head.
Hes going to go see Maria and tell her how he really feels.
We think that shes in here with Luis Guzman.
We soon learn that hes her brother and reveals that Maria is in Amsterdam.
Then Harold and Kumar decide to go to Amsterdam.
Instead of this big romantic moment, we have this mediocre joke.
We lost them because Harold didnt get Maria.
So we did a half-a-day reshoot in an elevator in L.A., and they had their moment.
Then we tested it again, and it actually tested better with women than it did with men.
Garces:I got a kissing scene with John, so that was nice.
Bolstered by the early buzz,Harold & Kumarwas quickly set for a late-summer release.
Like, look at all the R-rated comedies during the summertime versus the other times of the year.
Still, we had no say in it.
But then New Line saw the test-screening scores and thought the movie could really blow up.
We were all really excited.
That was insane to me.
Theres a lot of ass-covering in Hollywood.
So I think the expectations were really measured.
Nobody wanted to say it was going to be a huge hit.
Meloni:The first time I saw it was at the premiere at the Graumans Chinese Theatre in L.A.
They brought in White Castle burgers.
I thought the movie was genius.
It had a controlled insanity and it had heart.
They hit the tone really well.
I thought it would be huge.
Then we started to write the sequel.
Thats how bullish everybody was on the movie.
The trade magazines at the time were predicting $12-18 million gross for the first weekend.
It got great reviews.
Penn:We thought it would be fun to see what the crowds were laughing at.
Hurwitz:The first theater was half-empty.
It was so depressing.
It was such a bummer.
We got our asses kicked.
I know we opened at Number Seven at the box office.
All my worst dreams had come true.
[It grossed $24.3 million overall.]
Hurwitz:Somebody called us on Saturday and told us to stop writing the sequel.
Many are quick to blame the misguided marketing campaign.
Penn:I remember the trailers were all about race, and they should have been about friendship.
The first cut of it mentioned thatthis movie starredthe Asian guy fromAmerican Pieand that Indian guy fromVan Wilder.
Cho:I think they were trying to be cheeky about it.
But it bothered me.
I didnt like it.
Shapiro:I just think the studio was brave to take this movie, full stop.
But I dont think they knew how to reach an audience, and their campaign was not terribly original.
Ryan:I admit the marketing never captured anything that really played to the essence of the movie.
That bore itself out.
When I look back on it now, its cringey.
Kahane:The DVD and maybe even the VHS came out.
I think the audiences just started finding it at home and it became part of the culture.
And I should add that there was no DVD marketing!
It wasnt like we were doing separate publicity for it.
It just dropped in and fans found it.
Cho:I remember I was in line with friends to get into a nightclub.
A large man with a clipboard goes, Harold, get up here.
I got the red-carpet treatment!
I was like,What is going on?
Who has seen this movie?!
Why does he love me?And a version of that kept happening.
Soon, Hurwitz and Schlossberg got the call they were waiting for.
Hurwitz:We didnt want to do a straight-to-DVD movie.
We were really holding off.
Then I would say about 2006, we were asked if we were willing to do another movie.
Hurwitz:There were sixPolice Academymovies.
There were threeNaked Gunmovies.
So we were always drawn to movies that had sequels.
So we love our sequels.
We loveHarold & Kumar Go to Guantanamo Bay.
We love the Christmasmovie.
We think theyre all fun.
Penn:I still have such an appreciation for the fans who went out and got the DVDs.
It went against all the studio quadrants on why the movie was a box-office failure the first time around.
I know the audiences were frat boys in Alabama and church groups, along with the Asian community.
That kind of stuff didnt show up on studio marketing data in 2004.
Cho:The movies success was really a triumph against incorrect polling techniques.
As for a fourthHarold & Kumarmovie?
It may indeed be on the menu.
Kahane:We are having conversations right now.
Hurwitz:We loveHarold & Kumar, and we would absolutely make one if the opportunity arises.
Cho:I havent heard much, but it would be a blast.
Penn:I think in 2024 we deserve to make some cash off this!
There were people from the Obama administration and the Bush administration who had love for both movies.
Karl Rove, who was President Bushs senior adviser, is a bigHarold & Kumarfan.
He goes, Oh, man, I love those movies.
Thats really funny stuff.
Can you come back?
Thats why there was a seven-week break during my tenure there.
Cho:Ive never heard that story!
Penn:Ill give you another one: I once spoke at the Clinton Global Initiative Youth Conference.
This is so funny.
I was like, Thank you, Mr. President!
So the fact that it spanned at least three presidencies is very exciting to me.
Harris:I take very little credit for its success because I was such an anomaly in it.
But I was wowed at the reaction from my two days on the set.
Like, if you see Mayim Bialik, do you talk aboutBlossom?
Akerman:Its become such a cult classic.
Meloni:About three or four years ago, the movie was on a streaming service.
I went, Oh, yes, I am!
It absolutely held up.
There were meanings behind the comedy.
I loved the leads.
And I love that these were two non-white kids trying to find their way in America.
This wasntSlumdog Millionaire,you know?
Stoners were always portrayed as idiot deadbeats.
This had silliness and heart, which is what the viewers wanted.
Im thankful to be a part of that.
Garces:Were going through a period where everything is so PC, right?
But now I think that if you dont cross certain boundaries, it hinders the art.
The best kind of comedy needs to push past these edges.Harold & Kumarhad this feeling of something new.
When stereotypes are turned on their heads, its often hilarious.
You see them in frozen food sections, too.
So I put on a hat and made a beeline into the bathroom.
When I came out there were like 30 people standing at the door waiting.
I took a half-hours worth of pictures.
Finally, the staffers were like, Would you like to buy a burger?
I couldnt believe I didnt have free White Castle privileges!
