Mindy Kaling has had her own successful show for a while now, but many of us got to know her on The Office. As bubbly Kelly, Kaling started out with only a few small speaking parts on the show and ended up being one of the most riveting characters, in part because of her manic, unhealthy relationship with B.J. Novak’s character Ryan.
What some people might not know is that Kaling and Novak are a former couple, and Novak produced the pilot for The Mindy Project. He also played a big part in choosing Mindy’s on-screen love interest, Chris Messina.
“It’s like he has such good taste, and he knows me so well. We’re such different kinds of people. Our energies were so different, it might be enjoyable to watch, but I didn’t know going into it. It was just luck,” she told People.
Mindy spoke recently about the show’s move from FOX to Hulu, where it was saved from cancellation. The actress says she’s fine with it, if it means she can focus on being creative and doing what she loves.
“To be honest, after being on network TV for 11 years, I’m kind of happy about that. I’d rather just focus on the creative and I’m happy that they’re not trying to pull me into those conversations. I’m so grateful and I just want to make the show better than it’s ever been. We went from ‘We’re never doing this show again’ to having more work than ever,” Mindy Kaling said.
But don’t expect the move to change the show’s writing; cast member Ike Barinholtz says that wouldn’t be in their best interest.
“I think if we really changed the show and made it more risqué and put it more on a tilt towards stuff you might find on HBO or Showtime, we would maybe turn off some of our core viewers,” Barinholtz said.
