Mindy Kaling has built an entertainment empire on the stories of women and girls she didn’t see on TV when she was growing up. Since leaving “The Office,” the workplace satire that launched her career, Kaling—who reportedly has a net worth of $35 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth—has created several female-focused comedy series, including “The Mindy Project,” Netflix’s “Never Have I Ever” and Max’s “The Sex Lives of College Girls.” All were made through Kaling International, the production company she founded in 2012.
Now, Kaling is preparing to shoot an untitled Netflix project loosely inspired by the life of Jeanie Buss, the controlling owner and president of the Los Angeles Lakers. (Buss is also an executive producer on the show.)
Born and raised in Cambridge, Mass., Kaling lives in L.A. with her two children, Katherine and Spencer. Here, she discusses her exercise routine, being a single mom, and what Anne Hathaway taught her about mindfulness.
Here are a few things Mindy Kaling revealed to WSJ. Magazine…
On being a Hollywood executive
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Becoming a Hollywood executive wasn’t always part of the plan, she said. “Only wanting to be a creative—to write and act—that’s all I cared about,” said Kaling, 44. “It wasn’t until my late 20s that I started thinking of things differently.”
On what time she wakes up on Mondays
“If I can sleep until 6 a.m., I’m very excited. But what has been happening recently is that I’ll get up between 3:15 and 4:15 a.m. and then just sit there with my worries until I hear my kids stirring.”
On how she likes her coffee and breakfast
“One of the most off-putting things about me is that I don’t drink coffee. I love the ritual of it and I love beautiful cappuccino art, so I really do feel excluded from a big part of culture. I think people are suspicious of it, and I would be, too.”
“By the time the kids are eating breakfast at like 7, 7:15, I’m very hungry. I don’t eat a ton because I will go for a run or walk. So, typically, something like a corn tortilla toasted on the stovetop with a piece of avocado and a piece of turkey bacon. I tried overnight oats for the first time this past week because I saw a recipe on Instagram that looked delicious. I found them to be slimy and disgusting. No idea how people eat them.”
On whether she meditates or journals
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“I don’t meditate because I just fall asleep. About eight years ago, Anne Hathaway taught me this thing on the set of “Ocean’s 8.” She takes a piece of paper and writes down everything that worries her and her greatest fears. At the end of it, she burns [the paper]. I do it a couple times a year. I go out to my backyard because I’m not trying to set my house on fire, and I get a candle and burn it.”
On her new project inspired by the life of Lakers owner Jeanie Buss and starring Kate Hudson
“Jeanie is such an icon, and her relationship with Linda Rambis, who’s been her right-hand woman for the past 20 or 30 years, has been incredible. I love the NBA. I grew up in Boston, and my dad in particular was such a Celtics fan. The fact the Lakers are a team run by a woman and what she’s had to experience with her family, with the league, it’s so interesting. We’re going to start shooting in a couple of weeks.”
On how she thinks Gen Z is growing up differently than her generation:
“When I was growing up, I was one of two Indian kids through my entire middle and high school. We didn’t live in a really Indian area. I felt so othered and that I needed to hide that identity. Now what’s really inspiring about young people and young women of color is how much they embrace their identities.”
On how motherhood has changed her perspective on life
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“It’s really rewarding, being a mom and spending time with these two people who look like me. I love them, and they’re so funny. In terms of my career, I’m a single mom, I’m the breadwinner in the house. So there’s a lot of panic that comes with that, the buck stops with me, I have to earn money for them. Having kids is everything—wanting to be a good role model and wanting to produce content that doesn’t embarrass them and makes them proud is another layer to my life and a complication that I welcome.”
On her comment in a recent profile where she said that egg freezing would be a great college graduation gift for women, and whether she sees public attitudes changing about the procedure
“I’m very supportive of young women freezing their eggs. It gives them a lot of freedom in their lives. I can say that from a place of privilege—I know that egg freezing is enormously expensive, although I think the costs are coming down. Even in the last 10 years, I’ve seen it really destigmatized, so I just hope that the prices come down.”
On the upcoming season of “The Sex Lives of College Girls,” Reneé Rapp’s departure, and what it means to continue making a show about friends when one of them leaves
“Those characters have such big personalities, and we’ve been tackling how best to send Leighton off in a way that feels really rewarding and emotional—we’re working on that right now.”
On a genre or type of project that she hasn’t gotten to work on yet, but would like to
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“Whenever I see Noah Hawley’s work—he did “Fargo” and now he’s doing “Alien”—I’m always so drawn to it. As a comedy writer who writes about offices or dorm rooms or a suburban house in the San Fernando Valley, it feels incredibly exciting that he disappears into these really violent and sometimes sci-fi worlds. So one day, I’d love to work on something that’s like horror comedy or sci-fi comedy. Jordan Peele is such a role model for me because he does horror, but everything is clearly through his lens of a comedian.”
On her most prized possession
“When you’re a parent, are you allowed to say things other than a drawing your children gave or a bag of their teeth? I will say my mom was a surgeon and loved really nice clothes and jewelry, and was always made up. She had a little Seiko watch that she would wear and always take off when she would do surgeries and then put it back on. That is my absolute prized possession, and I would be devastated if I ever lost it.”
On the one piece of advice that’s guided her
“It makes me sound name-droppy, but I think about it all the time. Oprah Winfrey once told me when we were shooting in New Zealand that the best piece of advice she got was from Maya Angelou—this is many name-drops at this point—do the best you can, until you know better. And when you know better, do better.”
Read the full interview here.
Photo: Ari Michelson via WSJ. Magazine
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