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57-476: Vera Mindy Chokalingam (born June 24, 1979), known professionally as Mindy Kaling ( / ˈ k eɪ l ɪ ŋ / ), is an American actress, screenwriter, and producer. Known for her work on television, she has received numerous accolades including two Screen Actors Guild Awards , a Tony Award , and six nominations at the Primetime Emmy Awards . Kaling first gained recognition starring as Kelly Kapoor in

114-465: A Tony Award for Best Musical as a producer for the musical A Strange Loop . In 2012, Kaling founded the production company Kaling International . Vera Mindy Chokalingam was born June 24, 1979, in Cambridge, Massachusetts , to father Avudaiappan Chokalingam and mother Swati Chokalingam ( née Roy-Sircar). She has an elder brother, Vijay Chokal-Ingam. Her parents are from India; the family immigrated to

171-461: A single-camera comedy to Fox called The Mindy Project , which Kaling wrote, produced and starred in. Fox began airing the series in 2012. Also in 2012, Kaling founded the production company, Kaling International . In 2013, Time magazine named one of the 100 most influential people in the world . Fox canceled her series The Mindy Project in May 2015, with it later being picked up by Hulu for

228-600: A "creator who is leaving their mark" in Los Angeles. On August 21, 2024, she spoke at the Democratic National Convention in support of Kamala Harris . Over her career she has received two Screen Actors Guild Awards and the Tony Award , and six Primetime Emmy Awards nominations. She was recognized by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2013. A decade later she received

285-460: A 26 episode fourth season. On May 4, 2016, Hulu announced it had picked up the series for a 16-episode season 5, which was later reduced to 14. On March 29, 2017, Kaling announced the series would return for a sixth and final season; the final episode of the series aired on November 14, 2017. Casting announcements for the remaining series regular roles began in February 2012, with Ed Weeks cast in

342-508: A 26-episode fourth season and a 16-episode fifth season. In March 2017, Kaling announced that the show's sixth season, which would air starting September 2017, would be the last. The series concluded on November 14, 2017. Kaling voiced Taffyta Muttonfudge in Disney's animated comedy film Wreck-It Ralph and Disgust in Pixar 's 2015 film Inside Out . In 2017, NBC created Champions , where Kaling

399-680: A Funeral , Never Have I Ever and The Sex Lives of College Girls . Her film career includes voice roles in Despicable Me (2010), Wreck-It Ralph (2012), and Inside Out (2015) as well as live action roles in No Strings Attached (2011) , The Five-Year Engagement (2012), A Wrinkle in Time (2018), Ocean's 8 (2018), and Late Night (2019), the last of which she also wrote and produced. She wrote two memoirs both reaching The New York Times Best Seller list . She also received

456-434: A bachelor's degree in playwriting. She lists the comedy series Dr. Katz , Saturday Night Live , Frasier and Cheers as early influences on her comedy. While a 19-year-old sophomore at Dartmouth, Kaling was an intern on Late Night with Conan O'Brien . She has said that she never saw a family like hers on TV, which gave her a dual perspective she uses in her writing. She thinks the "everyone against me" mentality

513-642: A daughter, Katherine, born in December 2017, a son, Spencer, born in September 2020 and a daughter, Anne, born in February 2024. She has kept the paternity of her children private. She is an adherent of Hinduism and has expressed her desire to give her children a Hindu upbringing. Kaling has a close friendship with B. J. Novak , whom she met through writing for The Office , with Novak calling Kaling "the most important person in my life" (on Fresh Air with Terry Gross ). They dated on and off while writing and acting on

570-447: A hilarious take on abortion that has not been done yet—but we might. I have faith in us. Contrasting with the above criticism, a 2021 Feminist Media Studies ' article titled "Un/accented: the politics of difference in US popular culture" argues that some of the criticism that The Mindy Project received, regarding the predominately white love interests or absence of Indian cultural reference,

627-464: A long-lost Ephron sister." In 2004, when The Office producer Greg Daniels was working to adapt The Office from the BBC TV series of the same name, he hired Kaling as a writer-performer after reading a spec script she wrote. He said, "She's very original ... If anything feels phony or lazy or passé, she'll pounce on it." When Kaling joined The Office , she was 24 years old and was the only woman on

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684-441: A part of the main cast in the third-season finale. In December 2015 it was reported that Fortune Feimster had been upgraded to a series regular role beginning with the fourteenth episode of the fourth season, after appearing in seven of the first thirteen episodes. Garret Dillahunt joined the show in a major recurring role as Dr. Jody Kimball-Kinney. In June 2016, it was announced that Chris Messina would not be returning as

741-412: A recurring role but had filmed only two episodes prior to being promoted. The first change of the third season occurred prior to the start of production and saw Zoe Jarman's role eliminated from the show. Like Setton and Camp's departures in the first season, the absence of her character was never addressed. The second cast change of the season was announced on November 21, 2014, and saw Adam Pally leave

798-428: A series regular for season five, but would instead appear as a guest star. The Mindy Project received positive reviews from critics, with many highlighting Kaling's performance and her unique character, as well as the writing and directing. On Rotten Tomatoes , the first season holds an approval rating of 81% based on 48 reviews, with an average rating of 7/10. The site's critical consensus reads, " The Mindy Project

855-499: A small medical practice in New York City . The character was inspired by Kaling's own mother, an OB/GYN. Mindy explores life with the help of her co-workers: Danny Castellano, her best friend and love interest, whose religious sensibilities occasionally cause some tension; Jeremy Reed, an English physician who manages the practice; Peter Prentice, another physician who was a fraternity jock while attending Dartmouth ; Morgan Tookers,

912-592: A staff of eight. She took on the role of Kelly Kapoor , debuting in the series' second episode, "Diversity Day". Her TV appearances include a 2005 episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm , playing Richard Lewis 's assistant. She is featured on the CD Comedy Death-Ray and guest-wrote parts of an episode of Saturday Night Live in April 2006. After her film debut in The 40-Year-Old Virgin with Steve Carell , Kaling appeared in

969-500: A third memoir, Nothing Like I Imagined (Except For Sometimes) , with Amazon Original Stories in 2020. Kaling and her fellow writers and producers of The Office were nominated five consecutive times for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series. In 2010, she was nominated with Daniels for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series for the episode "Niagara." In a 2019 interview with Elle Magazine, Kaling spoke about

1026-544: A voice-over only role, in the eighth episode to explain that his character had retired. The second change of the season, which was first reported on November 20, 2012, saw Amanda Setton's role also eliminated entirely and Anna Camp downgraded to a recurring cast member. They both departed after the twelfth episode. Despite becoming a recurring cast member, Camp only made a single appearance in the seventeenth episode. Neither Setton or Camp's characters had their absence referenced, nor were they mentioned again. The first change for

1083-423: A wacky, yet lovable registered nurse and an ex-con ; Tamra Webb, a blunt nurse; and Beverley Janoszewski, the libidinous older office receptionist. The series was initially commissioned by NBC , but the pilot with the working title It's Messy was released from NBC's projects on January 27, 2012. NBC then sent the script to Fox executives who read it over that following weekend. On January 30, 2012, Fox green-lit

1140-559: A whole form and write an essay about all my contributions as a writer and a producer… I had to get letters from all the other male, white producers saying that I had contributed, when my actual record stood for itself." In 2011, she played the role of Shira, a doctor who is a roommate and colleague of the main character Emma (played by Natalie Portman ) in No Strings Attached . Kaling also made an appearance as Vanetha in The Five-Year Engagement in 2012. In 2012, Kaling pitched

1197-506: A writer. Kaling left The Office after the ninth-season episode " New Guys ", but returned to guest-star in its final episode . In 2011, Kaling published a memoir, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) , which appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list . Her second book, Why Not Me? , covers the events that have happened in her life since 2011, and was published on September 15, 2015. She published

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1254-452: Is a co-creator, writer, and producer. She had a recurring guest role on the show, which premiered March 8, 2018, on NBC . It was cancelled after one season. In 2018, she played Mrs. Who in A Wrinkle in Time , the live-action Disney adaptation of the novel , and starred alongside Helena Bonham Carter , Sandra Bullock , Cate Blanchett , Anne Hathaway , Awkwafina and Rihanna in Ocean's 8 ,

1311-486: Is an American romantic comedy television series created by and starring Mindy Kaling that began airing on Fox in September 2012 and finished its six-season run on Hulu in November 2017. The series was co-produced by Universal Television and 3 Arts Entertainment . The series follows obstetrician/gynecologist Mindy Lahiri as she tries to balance her personal and professional life, surrounded by quirky co-workers in

1368-1370: Is cast in solid bronze, and produced by the American Fine Arts Foundry in Burbank, California . (Minimum of 3 wins) (Minimum of 10 nominations) Note: Winners are indicated in bold type. (Minimum of 3 wins) Gillian Anderson (1) Elizabeth Debicki (1) Felicity Huffman (1) Chandra Wilson (1) (Minimum of 10 nominations) David Hyde Pierce (8) Lorraine Bracco (3) Drea de Matteo (1) Nancy Marchand (1) Eric Stonestreet (3) Ed O'Neill (1) Sofía Vergara (3) Jimmy Smits (4) Rick Shroeder (1) Sharon Lawrence (1) Peter Boyle (2) Brad Garrett (1) Doris Roberts (2) Debra Messing (2) Alan Alda (1) Stockard Channing (2) Lily Tomlin (1) George Clooney (2) Sally Field (1) Josh O'Connor (1) Elizabeth Debicki (2) Claire Foy (2) Gillian Anderson (1) Helena Bonham Carter (1) Emma Corrin (1) Michael Richards (3) Jennifer Aniston (2) Julia Garner (3) Robert Downey Jr. (1) Lucy Liu (1) Jerry Orbach (1) Anthony Carrigan (1) Henry Winkler (1) William Shatner (2) Michelle Dockery (1) Alex Borstein (3) Kim Cattrall (2) Winona Ryder (1) The Mindy Project The Mindy Project

1425-434: Is such a charming comedy, led by Mindy Kaling's impressive talent, that its faults are easy to forgive." Review aggregation website Metacritic , which assigns a weighted mean based on reviews from mainstream critics, the season received a score of 69 out of 100 based on 32 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". It was the number-six best-reviewed show according to the site's fall 2012 season. On Rotten Tomatoes,

1482-718: Is what she learned as a child of immigrants. She named her Mindy Project character Mindy Lahiri after author Jhumpa Lahiri . After college, she moved to Brooklyn, New York . She said one of her worst job experiences was as a production assistant for three months on the Crossing Over With John Edward psychic show. She described it as "depressing." During this same time, she performed stand-up comedy . Kaling devised her stage name after discovering while doing stand-up comedy that emcees would have trouble pronouncing her last name, Chokalingam, and sometimes made jokes about it. She toured solo and with Craig Robinson , who

1539-545: The NBC sitcom The Office , for which she also worked as a writer. For her work on the series, she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series . She gained wider attention for creating, producing and starring as Dr. Mindy Lahiri in the Fox /Hulu sitcom The Mindy Project . She then created other TV shows such as the Champions , Four Weddings and

1596-696: The Producers Guild of America 's Norman Lear Achievement in Television Award , and was awarded the National Medal of the Arts from President Joe Biden . In 2013, Entertainment Weekly identified Kaling as one of the "50 Coolest and Most Creative Entertainers" in Hollywood. In the same year, Kaling was recognized by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world . In March 2023, Kaling

1653-604: The 2009 film Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian as a Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum tour guide. On September 15, 2011, when her contract was set to expire at the end of Season 7, she signed a new contract to stay with the show for Season 8 and was promoted to full executive producer. Her Universal Television contract included a development deal for a new show (eventually titled The Mindy Project ), in which she appeared as an actress and contributed as

1710-523: The Academy Awards in acting categories. The awards have been telecast on TNT from 1998 to 2022, and have been simulcast on TBS from 2007 to 2022. In May 2022 it was announced that both TNT and TBS will no longer air the awards. In January 2023, it was announced that Netflix will air the awards live beginning in 2024 as part of a new multi-year partnership, with the 2023 ceremony being announced to be live streamed on Netflix's YouTube channel as Netflix

1767-493: The Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art . Kaling is set to co-write the third installment in the Legally Blonde series with Dan Goor . The film was scheduled to be released in May 2022, but has been indefinitely delayed due to scripting. She is also committed to re-team with Dan Goor to write and star alongside Priyanka Chopra in a comedy about an Indian-American wedding under Universal . Kaling has three children:

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1824-530: The United States in 1979, the same year Kaling was born. Kaling's mother died of pancreatic cancer in 2012. Kaling has said she has never been called Vera, her first name, but has been referred to as Mindy since her mother was pregnant with her while her parents were living in Bengal . They were already planning to move to the United States and wanted, Kaling said, a "cute American name" for their daughter, and liked

1881-559: The all-female version of Ocean's Eleven . In 2020, Kaling created the Netflix series Never Have I Ever with Lang Fisher , a comedy partially based on Kaling's childhood story growing up in the Boston area. It premiered on Netflix on April 27, 2020, and is about an Indian American high school student, played by Maitreyi Ramakrishnan , dealing with the death of her father. The series received positive reviews. CNN and Teen Vogue have described

1938-406: The balance between heart and humor struck during the first three seasons." On Metacritic the season has a score of 81 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". The Mindy Project has been the object of scrutiny not only from traditional media forms but also from feminists and people of color , who often weigh in on the show's decisions in casting and writing. At the end of

1995-438: The best friends Matt Damon and Ben Affleck; that pretending spawned Matt & Ben , the goofy play that reimagined how Damon and Affleck came to write the movie Good Will Hunting ." Kaling wrote a blog, Things I've Bought That I Love , which reemerged on her website on September 29, 2011. She wrote it under the name Mindy Ephron, "a name Kaling chose because she was amused by the idea of her 20-something Indian-American self as

2052-497: The ceremony. As of 2023, Shakespeare in Love is the only film to receive nominations for all four acting categories and the ensemble award and Everything Everywhere All at Once is the only film to receive four awards, including the ensemble award. The statuette given, a nude male figure holding both a mask of comedy and a mask of tragedy, is called "The Actor". It is 16 inches (41 cm) tall, weighs over 12 pounds (5.4 kg),

2109-620: The film Unaccompanied Minors as a waitress. In an interview with The A.V. Club , she stated that Kelly is "an exaggerated version of what I think the upper-level writers believe my personality is." Kaling directed The Office webisode The 3rd Floor . She directed the Season 6 episode " Body Language ," which marked her television directorial debut. In 2007, she had a small part in License to Wed alongside fellow Office actors John Krasinski , Angela Kinsey , and Brian Baumgartner . She starred in

2166-413: The first season, Jezebel posted an article called "Mindy Kaling Only Makes Out with White Guys", a critique of the casting of romantic leads on the show. The same article contains a response from Nisha Chittal, who has defended Kaling's success in the past, who applauded the show for not making Kaling's race central to her character, and for showing that an Indian woman could date non-Indian men. During

2223-475: The name Mindy from the show Mork & Mindy . Kaling graduated from Buckingham Browne & Nichols in 1997. The following year, she entered Dartmouth College , where she was a member of improvisational comedy troupe The Dog Day Players and a cappella group The Rockapellas, and wrote for the Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern , the college's humor magazine. Kaling graduated from Dartmouth in 2001 with

2280-434: The pilot, with Mindy Kaling attached to star. On May 9, 2012, Fox placed a series order for the comedy. Two days later, the title was changed from It's Messy to The Mindy Project. On August 27, 2012, the pilot episode was made available to view online on various sites including Fox , in an attempt to garner interest in the series. On October 8, 2012, Fox ordered a full season of The Mindy Project . On March 4, 2013,

2337-405: The practice. Shortly after, Anna Camp boarded the series as Gwen Grandy, a stay-at-home mom and Mindy's best friend. A few months later, Amanda Setton , Stephen Tobolowsky and Ike Barinholtz joined the series. Setton replaced Dana DeLorenzo in the role of Shauna; Tobolowsky joined in the series regular role of Dr. Marc Shulman, the senior partner of the practice; and Barinholtz signed onto

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2394-432: The recurring role of Morgan Tookers, a quirky rehabilitated ex-con who joins the practice as a nurse. The first change occurred when Stephen Tobolowsky 's role was eliminated after the second episode – following re-shoots that saw his character be re-written into a mere authoritarian figure in the office – when it was decided that "they didn't really want Mindy to have a boss in the office". Tobolowsky returned, albeit in

2451-417: The role of Dr. Jeremy Reed, a sexy, British doctor in the practice. Zoe Jarman and Dana DeLorenzo then joined in series regular roles. Jarman signed on to play Betsy Putch, an upbeat receptionist at the practice; whilst Delorenzo joined as Shauna Dicanio, a young, party loving receptionist in the practice. In mid-March, Chris Messina joined the cast as Dr. Danny Castellano, an arrogant doctor who works at

2508-440: The second season has an approval rating of 89% based on 18 reviews, with an average rating of 6.8/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Mindy Kaling earns consistent laughs with wit, charm and physical comedy, as she and her cast grow into well-rounded and familiar, albeit peculiar, characters." On Metacritic, the second season has a score of 55 out of 100, based on four critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Season 3 of

2565-476: The second season, the episode "Mindy Lahiri Is a Racist," which addresses white supremacy , provoked discussion as to whether or not Kaling had made "reparations" for showing a predominantly white cast. Before the third season began airing, Kaling received criticism for a comment in a Flare article entitled "She's the Boss", in which she stated that the show would not address abortion , as "it would be demeaning to

2622-458: The second season, which occurred before production of the season began, saw Xosha Roquemore upgraded to a series regular role after recurring in the final three episodes of the previous season. The second change, which occurred just prior to the production of the season's fifth episode, resulted in Adam Pally also being upgraded to a series regular role. He had previously signed onto the series in

2679-442: The series after the season's thirteenth episode. His departure after the thirteenth episode of the season was a condition of his upgrade to a series regular that had occurred the previous year. It was reported that Pally is "expected to make occasional guest appearances". Pally made multiple guest appearances after his departure, where he was still credited amongst the regular cast in episodes he appeared, making his final appearance as

2736-439: The series as a watershed moment for South Asian representation in Hollywood, and praised Kaling for breaking South Asian stereotypes. In February 2021, HBO Max announced they had ordered the adult-oriented Scooby-Doo spin-off series Velma , with Kaling as executive producer as well as voicing the titular character . The series premiered on January 12, 2023, to mixed to negative reviews from critics. Velma 's fan reception

2793-412: The series was renewed for a second season, which began on September 17, 2013. On November 21, 2013, Fox announced that The Mindy Project would take a mid-season hiatus, before returning on April 1, 2014. Fox announced the third season renewal of The Mindy Project on March 7, 2014. On May 6, 2015, Fox cancelled the series after three seasons. On May 15, 2015, Hulu picked up the show, commissioning

2850-479: The sexism she faced with the Television Academy, having had to go to great lengths to prove her contribution as a producer when the academy informed her she would be cut from the producer list because there were too many producers. She said that to receive her rightful producing credit when The Office was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series, "They made me, not any of the other producers, fill out

2907-417: The show holds an approval rating of 82% on Rotten Tomatoes with the critical consensus reading, " The Mindy Project , while still wildly funny, travels further into rom-com country this season." Season 4 of the show holds an approval rating of 93% on Rotten Tomatoes with the critical consensus reading, " The Mindy Project begins its online migration with some of the show's best-ever episodes, further refining

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2964-654: The show. Novak is the godfather of Kaling's first two children. In 2012, Kaling was included in the Time 100 list of the world's most influential people. In 2014, she was named one of Glamour ' s Women of the Year. On June 10, 2018, she received an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire . In June 2024, the Los Angeles Times featured Kaling in its "L.A. Influential" series as

3021-431: The topic to talk about it in a half-hour sitcom." In an appearance on The Colbert Report two weeks later, she clarified: A lot of women look to me and look to the show, and they want me to be a spokesperson for a lot of issues, and I actually think that's a responsibility that's cool, I want to live up to that ... I want to be able to talk plainly on things but I also want to create an entertaining show. We haven't found

3078-485: Was awarded the 2021 National Medal of Arts from the US president Joe Biden in the White House . Screen Actors Guild Awards Nominations for the awards come from two committees, one for film and one for television, each numbering 2,100 members of the union, randomly selected anew each year, with the full membership (165,000 as of 2012) available to vote for the winners. It is considered an indicator of success at

3135-402: Was even more polarizing and got overwhelming negative reviews due to the humor and criticized its meta storytelling , characterization, writing, and departures from the traditional Scooby-Doo format. Velma was later ranked by several publications as one of the worst television series of 2023. That year, she was appointed as a board member along with historian June Li and Young Yang Chung for

3192-496: Was later a fellow cast member of The Office. In August 2002, she portrayed Ben Affleck in an off-Broadway play called Matt & Ben , which she co-wrote with her best friend from college, Brenda Withers , who played Matt Damon . Time magazine named it one of their "Top Ten Theatrical Events of The Year", and it was "a surprise hit" at the 2002 New York International Fringe Festival . Initially, Withers and Kaling had, "for their own entertainment, mockingly pretended to be

3249-622: Was still working out its live streaming capabilities at the time of the announcement. The inaugural SAG Awards aired live on February 25, 1995, from Universal Studios ' Stage 12. The second SAG awards aired live from the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium , while subsequent awards have been held at the Shrine Auditorium . On December 4, 2017, it was announced that the awards show would have its first host in its then twenty-four year history, with actress Kristen Bell presiding over

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