Even though The Office has been off the air since 2013, it’s one of those shows that seems to have a current audience at all times. The comedy series, which only got more popular when it became available to stream 24/7 for those with a Peacock subscription, certainly helped jumpstart the career of a ton of its cast, including Mindy Kaling. The actress behind Kelly Kapoor, who also served as a writer on The Office, recently talked about why her place on the show feels like sheer “luck” to her when she reflects on it.
Over a decade after wrapping on The Office, Mindy Kaling has only climbed the ladder in Hollywood further. She’s set to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and she co-created a new comedy series for Kate Hudson coming to Netflix later this month. It of course all comes back to her hilarious role on the sitcom, which she still often talks about. When reflecting on getting on the NBC series at the age of 24, Kaling said this to Variety:
As I get older, I realize how lucky I was with that job. It was my first job from doing off-off-Broadway theater. I wasn’t in the WGA, I didn’t have health insurance. So there was just the basic needs that needed to be met that would have thrilled me. But then the idea that I would work on the show for eight years and do this intensive [deep dive] in comedy writing and comedy acting, and be around Steve Carell, Greg Daniels, B.J. Novak and Mike Schur and just learn from them for so many years … my bar was so low at that time that it just really feels like such incredible luck. It was learning how to write and acting with really wonderful people that I’m still friends with. It completely set up my career.
Prior to Kaling’s tenure as Kelly Kapoor on The Office, she got her first big break as an intern on Late Night With Conan O’Brien when she was a college sophomore. After college, she pursued a career further by doing standup comedy and did an off-Broadway play called Matt & Ben with her best friend about Matt Damon and Ben Affleck… of course.
She got on The Office after creator Greg Daniels noticed her talent while reading a spec script she had written. The rest is history! The Office was on for nine seasons, and is more than a TV show; it’s a cultural phenomenon.
These days, Mindy Kaling has done massive things like wear gold dresses with Kate Hudson at their premiere for Running Point and received gifts from Taylor Swift. She led her own show as the creator and lead of The Mindy Project along with helming other successful shows like Never Have I Ever and The Sex Lives Of College Girls. She’s been a voice for a Pixar movie as Disgust in Inside Out.
As of late, Mindy Kaling has been taking a break from acting in order to work more behind the scenes and raise her three children, but she said she wants to act again soon. Anyone can say Kaling struck gold by getting on The Office so early in her career, but it’s interesting to hear her perspective regarding how being on the show “set up” her career and allowed her to become the big name she is today.
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