White Castle plays a big role in comedy 'Harold and Kumar'

It wouldn't be funny if they'd used McDonald's, the director said.
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
When it came to getting the cooperation of the title fast-food chain for the goofy stoner comedy "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle," the filmmakers just took a deep breath and set their sights high.
Luckily, the movie -- starring John Cho and Kal Penn as two twentysomething buds on a joint quest to satisfy their late-night munchies -- didn't get clipped by the owners of White Castle's 392 restaurants.
Family-owned since 1921, the restaurant company requested minor changes, then let the filmmakers roll.
"We were nervous that White Castle wouldn't want to play ball because of the drug stuff, the sexual innuendo and the very nature of the movie," says director Danny Leiner ("Dude, Where's My Car?"). "That was our main concern."
Had to be White Castle
"It had always been White Castle in the script. If we would've had to replace it, we would have gone with a fictional place. We wouldn't have made it a giant corporate chain; White Castle is a place people have genuine affection for.
"And had it been a place like McDonald's or Kentucky Fried Chicken, I wouldn't have been interested in doing it," Leiner adds.
"For some reason, White Castle is funny. I grew up in Brooklyn, and we used to make late-night journeys there. It's a mom-and-pop business."
But how did mom and pop feel about their name being associated with two guys inhaling, then inhaling the restaurant's trademark bite-size burgers?
"We thought the values were very inclusive in terms of the actors being Korean-American and Indian-American," says Jamie Richardson, the chain's director of marketing. "As for the other ... things that take place, well, they're not White Castle values -- but from our point of view, we saw it as authentic with the lengths our customers will go to get our burgers."
Like those burgers, the film's actors think they also have appeal as something different.
Blazing a trail
"There has to be a first time," says Cho, 32. "When 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' made money, Hollywood realized they could cast a Greek woman in something. Someone has to blaze a trail, and we're happy to take the hit."
Penn, 26, says the movie "touches on cultural stuff, but didn't make it all about that. This how kids today feel. If you're Asian-American and 20 years old, you don't think of yourself that way all the time, it's just a fraction of your identity."
As for their real-life White Castle experiences, Cho, who grew up in Los Angeles, and Penn, who's from Freehold, N.J., say they understand White Castle's siren call.
"During the day, White Castle is like anyplace else, but post-1 a.m., they're completely packed," says Penn. "It's a postparty, late-night spot."
Cho isn't surprised the chain agreed to be part of the movie's silliness. "They know who's in their drive-through line!"