car; he also further pays for "repairs". Kumar realizes he wants to be a doctor, but is afraid of conforming to the stereotype of Indians becoming doctors. Harold then notices his co-workers and two women pull up and gets angry at them because they said they had to work with clients but were actually out partying. He tells them off and threatens to get them fired if it happens again. After returning to their apartment they encounter Maria, Harold professes his feelings for her and they kiss. She informs Harold that she is leaving for Amsterdam, but will return in ten days. When Harold tells Kumar that Maria is going to Amsterdam, Kumar convinces him to go with him to Amsterdam to pursue Maria, reminding him that marijuana is legal in the Netherlands. Cast Production While living in Los Angeles, screenwriters Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg decided to write a low-budget stoner film and base the main characters on their high school friends from Randolph High School. They based the character of Harold on their real-life friend Harold Lee. Hurwitz got the idea to base the film around White Castle from his own experience craving White Castle burgers when he lived in Pennsylvania for several years. At the time, Pennsylvania did not have any White Castle locations and Hurwitz had to have family members bring him frozen White Castle burgers from New Jersey. The filmmakers received permission from White Castle in 2002 to use the chain's name in the film. One scene that depicted a White Castle being closed was changed at the request of the company's director of marketing. The film was also supposed to feature a hunt for Krispy Kreme donuts, but the food was changed to hamburgers when Krispy Kreme refused to allow the film to use their name. Kal Penn revealed that he and his co-star did not get a big paycheck from the movie. They only had a gross salary of $75,000 each for the movie, but there were many deductions. Penn mentioned, "You deduct your taxes, 10% to your agent, 15% your manager, 5% to your lawyer, your publicity fees and then your rent...And it averages out to probably about five-and-a-half months of living expenses once you’ve paid everybody and paid your taxes.” He said that a working actor is likely to keep "maybe 30% of your paycheck" after paying taxes and a team