Mindy Kaling: Seriously Funny

She works hard at being hilarious and loves to run the show. Here, The Mindy Project's creator and star, Mindy Kaling, talks sleep deprivation, eye-opening new roles and managing a major Maccy D habit.

- Mary HK Choi

Mindy Kaling meets me in her bright, airy, corner office on the Universal Studios lot dressed in a red, scoop-neck Rodarte for Opening Ceremony sweatshirt, black leggings and black Converse Chuck Taylors. Holding an iced coffee handed to her by an assistant, the actor/writer ushers me past a clothing rack teeming with technicolor frocks (think Mara Hoffman, Missoni and custom pieces from costume designer Salvador Perez), and makes an announcement before we begin. ‘I have to do a disclaimer,’ she says, taking a sip of coffee. ‘Usually when I’m talking to a fashion magazine, I would have put together a cute look.’ She tugs on her top. ‘This is so Gen Pop.’ To be fair, the ‘Radarte’ jumper is plenty fetching. And Kaling, 36, the creator of The Mindy Project, a show in which she stars as the endearingly self-absorbed OB/GYN, Mindy Lahiri, has just finished writing the first episode of the fourth season of her show, which is migrating from Fox to the streaming network Hulu.