Vera Mindy Kaling is an American actor, stand-up comedian, writer and producer. She first garnered recognition starring as Kelly Kapoor on the NBC sitcom The Office, in which she also served as an executive producer, writer and director. Since then, she has gone on to star in a number of notable movies and television shows including Mindy Kaling: Caught Out, Bridesmaids, Neighbors, Along Came Polly, Office Space, The Perfect Score, Men in Black 3, You Don’t Mess with the Zohan, Planes, Trainspotting and How I Live Now.
Mindy has also been a guest host for numerous late night talk shows, including Late Night With David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, Rachel Ray and The Date. On her talk show, Mindy detailed her own personal journey from being a closet hernia victim to becoming an executive producer and writer behind television series and movies. In addition to her appearances on TV, Mindy has also made a name for herself behind the camera. She was a contestant on The Apprentice and later became one of the most popular finalists after the show was canceled. Mindy’s other credits include writing and producing the 2021 documentary It’s Complicated, as well as hosting her own talk show, The Mindy Project.
Mindy started her comedy career on The Cheers network, playing the character of lesbian housekeeper Mindy Parkinson. She was one of the featured characters on the show for the first four seasons, where she played the stereotypical loving caretaker who had a soft spot for all the downtrodden. After the show ended, Mindy went on to develop her own comedy series for Yahoo!, entitled Mindy’s Block. She returned for a second season on the show, and then spent a year developing and filming the movie Office Space, which starred Will Ferrell
After Office Space, Kaling went into stand-up comedy, where she would play the same character, Mindy Parkinson, this time with a spin on her internship on Saturday Night Live. The success of Kaling’s comedy series and the critical acclaim of The Mindy Project have made her one of the biggest stand-up comics in the country. Now, she is back with her second sitcom, The Mindy Project, which she executive produces along with her wife, Sarah Glicken, and their producing partner Sam Palladino. The Mindy Project, like the original Mindy, centers on the life of a single mother living in a small California town.
As Mindy, Kaling plays the role of Chokalingam, an out-of-work stand-up comic who returns home to take care of his sick father. However, Chokalingam soon finds himself working as a stand-up comic in New York City and getting laughs through every stage he performs on. The Mindy Project version of Chokalingam is Kaling’s latest Broadway break, having previously appeared in several Off-Broadway shows such as Hello, My Hello, and Paper Kite. While the role of Chokalingam is just one of many that Kaling has had on Broadway, the multi-ethnic cast and multi-faceted supporting cast have made the show a hit among critics and fans of the multi-screen entertainment.
If Mindy Kaling is looking for work, she has a rich resume filled with credits that could lead to her being signed to a multi-platform production company. An executive producer and writer on seasons six and seven of the popular TV comedy The Mindy Project, Kaling has also worked on commercials for corporations like Coca-Cola and GM as well as having screenplays written by her husband, Mark Kassen’s, and her own first novel entitled Half Measures. Beyond that, Kaling has a background in theater, writing for such diverse theatre companies as Cats Cradle and Second Sight. Her experience in the corporate world could also lead to her working on a project for Amazon, which is a prequel to its successful blockbuster The Beaver. The multi-faceted actress and writer could use all of her creativity and wit to hone her comedic talent into a role on The Mindy Project, or she could just continue working in her current field of playwriting and directing.
