President Obama talked with the actor George Clooney about the crisis in Darfur.

By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG


WASHINGTON - After eight years of generally icy feelings toward President George W. Bush, the entertainment industry is once again embracing the nation’s capital. But the Obama White House is careful not to look as if it is hugging back.

In the six months since taking office, President Obama has quietly entertained movie stars and other celebrities. They include the actors Pierce Brosnan, Reese Witherspoon, Ben Stiller, Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Leonardo DiCaprio, and the singer Jon Bon Jovi, to name just a few.

Some slip in just for tours. Others come with an agenda.

Mr. Brosnan met with Obama administration officials in May to talk about saving the whales. Mr. Clooney spoke of the crisis in Darfur. Mr. Bon Jovi, who has been active with United We Serve, Mr. Obama’s initiative to promote volunteerism, had lunch in the White House with David Axelrod, the president’s senior adviser; the president dropped in to say hello.

The meetings have happened quietly with good reason: At a time when ordinary Americans are struggling through a tough economy, and the president is confronting health care and the nuclear ambitions of Iran, Mr. Obama can ill afford to be seen cavorting with Hollywood types.

“Hollywood is not the political asset, especially in the middle of the country, that people might think it is, said John Feehery, a Republican strategist and former executive vice president of the Motion Picture Association of America, the movie industry’s trade organization. “If you use it correctly, Hollywood can be very helpful in fund-raising. But it can also be a liability.

Mr. Bush seemed indifferent to celebrities. As Leon Wieseltier, the literary editor of The New Republic, said, “For Bush, Hollywood was the Soviet Union, only better looking.” Mr. Obama, by contrast, clearly enjoys associating with stars. But with his cool, detached reserve, he does not seem to need them, which may be one reason they find him so attractive.

That may have been the dynamic that propelled Kalpen Modi - better known as Kal Penn to fans of the television medical drama “House and the raunchy stoner “Harold and Kumar movies - to swap his lucrative acting career for a midlevel White House job.

In 2007, he volunteered with the Obama campaign, going door to door and making phone calls; eventually he joined candidate Obama’s arts policy committee. He is now the associate director of the Office of Public Engagement, a job that requires him to do two things; run public outreach with a focus on young people, the arts world and Asian-Americans; and to keep his head down.

His new colleagues seem impressed, if a little amused.

“He’s probably the only guy in the Office of Public Engagement,” Mr. Axelrod said, “who has a publicist.”