Kal Penn, aka #sexyface, gives Democratic response to Eastwood

CHARLOTTE, N.C.—It had to be the first time a party convention speech inspired widespread use of the Twitter hashtag #sexyface.

Kal Penn, the former White House staffer, better known to many of his peers as the star of the “Harold and Kumar” stoner movies, slyly suggested that viewers use the term when tweeting about his jocular address to Democratic delegates.

And sure enough, #sexyface quickly went viral, peaking at nearly 2,000 tweets per minute at 9:32 p.m. ET, Twitter reported.

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It was a measure of the appeal of the actor and devoted Obama supporter, who on Tuesday night sought to once again harness his cool factor to help the president.

Penn noted that he had “worked on a lot of fun movies,” but that his favorite job was working for “a boss who gave the order to take out Bin Laden and who’s cool with all of us getting gay married.”

“So thank you, invisible man in the chair, for that,” he said sardonically, a not-so-subtle swipe at the roundly mocked routine that actor Clint Eastwood delivered on the last night of the GOP convention.

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Penn was the Democrats’ answer to Eastwood, a generational take-down that emphasized the hipness divide between the two candidates.

The actor ticked off a litany of friends who have been helped by Obama’s policies – one who got a job with a Detroit car company, another finishing college on the GI Bill, another back from Iraq.

“We can’t turn back now,” he said, adding, “I ask all of you young people to join me. You don’t even have to put pants on. Go to commit.barackobama.com and register right there.”

The “oldies” out there could do the same, he said.

Penn noted that he had followed Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel on stage, who because of his current job was not able to use the four-letter-words he is famous for.

“I’m not mayor, so I’ve got one for you,” Penn said mischievously. “Vote.”

Matea.gold@latimes.com
@mateagold