Let’s just be honest for a second here – pretty much every girl is a little bit obsessed with Mind Kaling. I mean, it’s hard not to be! Sure, there are a ton of female celebrities who preach girl power, but a huge percentage of celebrities essentially skyrocket to superstardom thanks to a particular role, stumbling upon fame. Kaling is a definite A-List star now, but she got there through putting in the time and hard work (something that she elaborates on in her books). Simply put, she’s a phenomenal inspiration to women everywhere.
Many know her primarily as an actress, playing Kelly Kapoor on The Office and Dr. Mindy Lahiri on The Mindy Project, but since she started in the entertainment industry, she’s been working double-time both acting on camera and writing behind the scenes. Her long stint on The Office eventually led to her being given her own show, The Mindy Project. Her character, the lovable Dr. Lahiri, proves you can be a complete badass professionally while also loving pink, gossip mags, and romantic comedies. Kaling’s message seems to be that women can have it all – and that’s definitely something that we support.
So, who exactly is Mindy Kaling, besides an uber-talented writer/actress/director/creator extraordinaire? Well, here’s 15 things you may not know about her.
15 Her real name isn’t Mindy Kaling
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In Hollywood, there are a ton of celebrities who change their name, primarily to make their name more recognizable or cool. Kaling didn’t exactly change her name, so much as tweak it. She was born Vera Mindy Chokalingam, and decided to shorten her last name to simply Kaling once she entered the entertainment industry (as people were having trouble with her real last name), and go by her middle name (something that many celebs, including Reese Witherspoon, do). Fun fact – her mother actually got inspiration from her middle name from watching the show Mork & Mindy. With a name history like that, it’s no wonder she ended up being a comedy superstar!
14 She didn’t start dating until senior year… of college
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There are countless celebrities whose romantic histories read like a gossip column – new scandals and partners every week, constant paparazzi attention and speculation, etc. However, despite her A-List status, Kaling has never really been in the tabloids for her romantic life. Part of the reason is because she isn’t really a serial dater. By her own admission, she had about four boyfriends by the time she was in her 30s – a number that most teen stars hit before they’re of legal drinking age. She didn’t even start dating until she was in her senior year of college, opting to focus on academics and refining her comedic voice instead.
13 She got her start in theatre
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Since Kaling’s two most recognizable roles are on television (as Kelly Kapoor and Mindy Lahiri), many assume that she’s always been a television star, with perhaps a brief role in movies every now and then. However. She initially got her start on the stage in New York City. After graduating, Kaling wrote a play with a close friend called Matt & Ben. The comedic work centered on the two male friends’ development of Good Will Hunting, and immediately enchanted audiences – Time named it one of the Top Ten Theatrical Events that year. Kaling has proven that she can rock multiple mediums, and we’re eagerly awaiting for her to start a rom com empire.
12 She's a Dartmouth grad
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Actors and actresses are definitely not unintelligent, but there isn’t as much priority placed on formal training or education as in other job fields. Sure, many celebrities have been trained in the craft of acting, but an equal number are just naturally skilled and auditioned until they began to get roles. However, Kaling has some serious smarts in that brain – she’s a graduate of Dartmouth. The comedy star was busy in her college years, participating in an improve group, singing a cappella, and writing a comic strip for the school newspaper. Oh, and before that, she was educated at one of Massachusetts’ best private schools, Buckingham Browne & Nichols.
11 Her mother was an ob/gyn
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Why make Mindy Lahiri an ob/gyn rather than a top exec in marketing or some other field that would better explain her over the top wardrobe? Well, part of it has to do with her mother. Kaling’s mother passed away a short time ago, but before that, the star was incredibly close to her mother and often asked her for advice. So, when it came to creating the main character for her own show, she opted to make her an ob/gyn and pay tribute to one of the most important influences in her life.
10 The Office was her first Hollywood job
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Kaling wasn’t one of the many actresses who left her Midwest hometown and set out for sunny Los Angeles the moment she turned 18. She graduated from Dartmouth, and for awhile after that, she remained on the east coast, working in smaller roles in television. However, at the age of 24, she moved to Los Angeles, and almost immediately snagged a role on the writing team of the budding new sitcom The Office. At the time, not only was she incredibly young, she was the only woman on the writing team. If that doesn’t say girl power, we’re not sure what does!
9 She paid her dues in NYC
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In Los Angeles, there are countless aspiring actors who pay the bills by working as waiters and waitresses, baristas, assistants and more. While Kaling definitely paid her dues in the entertainment industry by starting from the bottom, it wasn’t in Los Angeles, and it wasn’t in the service industry. Instead, she interned at Late Night with Conan O’Brien. She knew she wanted to get involved in comedy, and figured she’d learn from the red headed Harvard man. She was with the show for three years, and eventually, before O’Brien left to take over The Tonight Show, Kaling returned to the Late Night set as a guest.
8 She works crazy hard
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Mindy Kaling is fairly outspoken about the importance of working hard and earning your spot at the table, and she definitely walks the walk. In her latest book, Why Not Me?, there’s a small section devoted to giving readers a peek at a typical day in the life with Mindy Kaling. It’s an absolutely exhausting schedule, beginning with a 5.30 am wake-up, darting between acting and writing, late night editing of the show, and basically just making everything happen until pouring herself into bed for a few short hours before waking up to do it all over again. She is definitely not one of those actresses who lounges poolside for hours at a time – she’s too busy running an extremely successful show like a boss.
7 She adores fashion
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Many celebrities love fashion, but let’s be honest – a lot of them simply sit in the front rows because they want to support designer friends or put on a good show for the cameras. Their stylists pick out their clothing for any red carpet events, and they just wear whatever is given to them. Not Mindy Kaling. Anyone who has seen her talk about clothing, or has seen her social media accounts, knows that she is a true fashion devotee. She knows what she loves, and she proves that you don’t need to be a size zero supermodel to rock absolutely incredible designer outfits.
6 She trained herself in comedy as a child
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Mindy Kaling definitely has a natural feel for the comedic, but she also put in a lot of hard work. From an early age, she knew that she loved comedy, and all the way back in junior high she began studying sketch-comedy shows including The Kids in the Hall, In Living Color, and Saturday Night Live. Kaling wasn’t just watching idly like some kids were – she watched those shows like she was studying for a test in comedy, with, in her own words, “attentive nerdiness.” It all paid off in the end, as she now constantly seems effortlessly hilarious, not just in her carefully crafted scripts, but in all interviews and off the cuff remraks.
5 She was initially the only female writer on staff at The Office
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There are so many absolutely hilarious female comedians nowadays, that it may seem as if they’ve always been there – but that wasn’t the case. Over a decade ago, when Kaling was looking for a job as a comedy writer, she ended up snagging a spot at the writers’ table of The Office. Out of the 8 writers on the team at the time, she was the only woman. One can only imagine that it would have been intimidating to make your sole female voice heard in that kind of a boys’ club, but Kaling excelled and impressed everyone on staff, slowly getting more responsibilities and artistic freedom.
4 She’s a huge fan of Jhumpa Lahiri
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Dr. Mindy Lahiri may be the type of woman who would rather read People magazine than Dickens, but the super intelligent Kaling is a bit more interested in literature. Case in point – she’s a big fan of author Jhumpa Lahiri. Kaling has commented that Lahiri’s short story collection Interpreter of Maladies had a huge impact on her, and that she always reads whatever new material the talented Lahiri publishes. In fact, Kaling is such a fan that her character Dr. L gets her last name from the author in question. That’s right – the quirky Dr. Lahiri is named after a Pulitzer prize winner.
3 Like Dr. Lahiri, she loves romantic comedies
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In the entertainment industry, many look down on romantic comedies, despite the legions of fans who enjoy watching movies where the fashion is fabulous and everything turns out all right in the end, instead professing to favor dark, brooding films. Not Mindy Kaling – she penned a piece for the New Yorker entitled “Flick Chicks: A Guide to Women in the Movies,” in which she unpacks some typical chick flick characters and gives her opinions on her genre of choice. Kaling proves that you can be a strong, intelligent women, and still love chick flicks, a genre many view as bubbly and brainless.
2 She loves to run
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Dr. Lahiri might hate exercise more than anything, but Mindy Kaling has a particular fondness for lacing up her running shoes and hitting the pavement. That’s right – Kaling is a regular runner who clocks in miles every week, despite her busy schedule. While many actresses work out until they’re beyond exhausted in order to maintain an ultra-slim frame, Kaling works out to stay strong and healthy for all those hours running around the studio between the writers’ room and the set they’re filming the show on. Plus, obviously, to combat all those McDonald’s runs (seriously, she is a woman after our hearts).
1 She has two hugely popular books
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Okay, if you’ve been living under a rock for the past little while (or, perhaps, are a person with terrible taste who dislikes talented women), then you might only know Mindy Kaling from the small screen. However, over the past few years, she’s come out with two hugely popular books: Is Everybody Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) and the recent Why Not Me? That’s right – in between her exhausting schedule of writing and acting, Kaling somehow managed to pen two incredibly funny, insightful books that are basically an indispensable resource for any woman looking to be her best self. Honestly, we would buy anything this woman writes.
Sources: bustle.com, newyorker.com
