Kal Penn Returns to His Stoner Roots on ‘Deadbeat’ (PHOTO)

Kal Penn and Tyler Labine behind bars in Deadbeat
Nicole Rivelli/Hulu
Kal Penn, Tyler Labine

Kal Penn goes back to his Harold & Kumar roots as he joins Season 3 of stoner comedy Deadbeat (April 20 on Hulu).

He plays Clyde, a rich pothead who becomes medium Kevin Pacalioglu’s (Tyler Labine) new—and only—friend. “Pac has been left alone,” says Labine. “He’s in a really bad place.”

So bad that the pals, budding business partners, and future roomies meet in jail. But their time in lockup has a happy ending: Clyde is so impressed with Pac’s clairvoyant abilities that they go into business together. “Clyde actually tries to execute some of the absurd ideas the guys come up with,” Penn says. “He gets on Pac’s case whenever Pac drops the ball or loses motivation.”

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Speaking about Kumar, Penn is quick to separate his former franchise’s pothead from his new role. “Kumar is an ivy league-educated family and friends man who has a brilliant mind, loves his lady, and sometimes likes to smoke weed,” he says. “Clyde made all his money by chance in the dotcom boom, has a bizarre yet creative way of approaching business, and his entire life seems to revolve around weed. The two guys are totally different!”

Pac and Clyde will really put the “buddy” in buddy comedy. “They realize immediately that they’re like each other’s long lost siblings,” Penn says. Which, of course, is both a wonderful and terrifying thing, as he teases, “The dudes get into a ton of mischief this season.”

Deadbeat, Season premiere, Wednesday, April 20, Hulu