During her eight-year tenure as an ensemble member of the “The Office,” Mindy Kaling wrote 24 episodes, garnered an Emmy nod, became a household name and was eventually promoted to exec producer. So it wasn’t such a stretch when Fox decided to greenlight “The Mindy Project,” with the comedienne at its center.
“I have stories to tell that I don’t see (anywhere else) on television,” Kaling says.
Like her HBO counterpart Lena Dunham does with “Girls,” Kaling not only stars in “The Mindy Project,” but also writes and exec produces the show. Less than a month after the sitcom’s September premiere, Fox ordered a full 24-episode season run for the skein, which averages 5.2 million viewers.
In addition to saying goodbye to her old workplace and launching her own show, Kaling wrote a bestselling memoir, “Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns),” and act in U’s “The Five-Year Engagement.”
“I like to read the newspaper, go on non-challenging jogs and occasionally read up on true crime. I don’t remember the last time I left the continental United States. That leaves lots of time to work.”
