Mindy Kaling on acting, producing and being an Indian-American woman in Hollywood
GEORGIA ENGLE
Actress, producer and screenwriter on hit sitcoms “The Office,” “The Mindy Project” and “Never Have I Ever,” Mindy Kaling headlined the Silk Speakers Series on Feb. 23.
USF alumna and NBC’s Chief Consumer Investigative Correspondent, Vicky Nguyễn, moderated the conversation with Kaling.
Kaling shared several experiences regarding her identity as an Indian American woman in the TV industry. When she became a writer for “The Office” in 2004, Kaling explained that her parents’ advice was to “not be political and put your identity first, you’re not a woman of color, you’re a cog to help.”
Kaling continued, “But this is what’s tricky, it really worked. I did that and I was accepted and learned a lot in that white, male environment. But when I look at my children now, I don’t know necessarily that the best advice would be to tell them to suppress their identity for the larger good.”
Kaling said, “I want to modernize my parents’ advice so it makes sense now […] But I don’t want to lie about what made me successful.” Kaling explained that her late mother was a significant role model in her life, “I thought my mom was very glamorous, that she worked so hard,” said Kaling, whose mother was an obstetrician.
Nguyễn asked Kaling how she has overcome failure and hardships throughout her career. Kaling reminisced about the call sheet she received while working for “The Office,” “The call sheet is a hierarchical list of who’s most important on the cast, it started with Steve Carell at number one, and I was number 11 of about 12 people,” she laughed, “I always thought to myself, ‘when am I going to be number one?’’’
A few years later, NBC asked Kaling to write and star in a show for them. She submitted “The Mindy Project” and was rejected. She said, “At that moment I felt like I was going to be number 11 for the rest of my life.”
After her mothers death in 2012, she submitted the show to Fox, and was guaranteed a pilot episode from the network, but not a full season. “I felt hope, but I didn’t want to be too hopeful because look what happened last time,” she said, “I am so proud of the show, we got to 117 episodes, but it wasn’t an instant hit. I fought and clawed for every episode. It was one of the most challenging and humbling experiences.”
“I don’t approach my work as an activist, but as an entertainer,” said Kaling. “When I wrote the show, I said ‘What if I approached it as I would “The Office,” but used a cast that no one has seen before.’ I want to make people laugh, but if I can do it with people we haven’t seen before, that’s the thing I’m trying to do.”
Ngyuen asked Kaling how she balances being a single mother with her successful career and whether she had any advice for the audience. Kaling said, “I have lots of resources, I had my kids later at 37, I had lots of savings, I have a nanny, but it isn’t for everyone. I discovered something that makes me so unbelievably happy even though I don’t have a partner.”
Kaling reflected on one of her more recent projects, teen comedy series “Never Have I Ever” starring Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, saying that the show’s success was surprising to her, “I love the show, but it is so niche. It is by far to this day the biggest show that I’ve ever worked on. 40 million people watched the first season [in its first 4 weeks].”
“Never Have I Ever” has left an impact on many viewers, including Cheska Rugayan, a junior business analytics and finance major, “‘Never Have I Ever’ felt very representative of my own journey,” said Rugayan. “The show helped me and my sister be able to talk to my mom about difficult situations. It was special to have that intergenerational bond, especially in Asian families, where more progressive topics are harder to discuss, and the show gave us the platform to talk.”
Sanchita Shahane was one of the students who met Kaling. “I watched ‘The Office’ at 12-years-old, and I didn’t expect to see someone of my own race in the cast, and that was really amazing. Mindy has been a great figure in my life. I heavily relate to ‘Never Have I Ever’ and lots of my friends who are Indian do too. This is the best Silk Speaker event I’ve been to, I was shaking when I met her,” said Shahane.
Kaling is also a philanthropist and is involved with the Pancreatic Action Network. “My mother died of pancreatic cancer, and it changed me forever. This organization is one of the reasons why the survival rate of pancreatic cancer has increased from 5% to 13%.”
Kaling is also the first South Asian woman to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. “I don’t feel like I completely deserve it, but I am young enough that I can still work up to it,” said Kaling.
When asked what advice she has for USF students, Kaling shared advice that was given to her from Oprah Winfrey who received the advice from Maya Angelou, “Do the best you can until you know better, and when you know better, do better.”
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