Entertainment Weekly all but declares Mindy Kaling the face of “New Hollywood” in the cover story of its latest issue.
The magazine’s four-page feature on Kaling is rich with details and accompanied by a glamorous, old Hollywood photoshoot. Here are some highlights from the piece, in which Kaling is described as “one of the most promising and original voices in comedy right now.”
On stereotypes
While she’s quick to say something about almost anything, Kaling is often only asked to be the voice of Women of Color Who Aren’t Size Zero. “Most of the time when people want to talk to me about my job it’s about three things: not skinny, multicultural, woman who is female. I don’t want to minimize that it’s a source of inspiration to young people, but I was just born in this skin, so it’s not something I think about while writing,” she says. “And I’m not courageous for not being thin. I never chose to be chubby. I don’t have the inclination to eat well all the time or the time to exercise. I’m like every other American woman who’d like to lose weight.”
On only making out with white guys
“She’s also well aware of criticism — and the underlying double standard — about Mindy Lahiri dating only white men last season. “Do people really wonder on other shows if female leads are dating multicultural people” she asks. “Like I owe it to every race and minority and beleaguered person. I have to become the United Nations of shows? Ultimately you can’t please everyone … I’m lucky, though, because I don’t have time to fixate, because there’s 24 episodes of TV to create.”
On handling her business like a boss
The most telling piece of décor is a handwritten note from Tina Fey that gets prime placement right next to Kaling’s desk: “Remember never to walk to the set until everyone else has walked. It makes you powerful.”
On creating her own roles
“I knew if I wanted to perform I was going to have to write it myself,” says Kaling. “The dream is what I imagine Amy Adams’ life is. Someone calls and says ‘Hi, David O. Russell wants you do this part.’ Ultimately I’m very happy with the way it worked, but I don’t think it’s my first choice for ever role I do to have to write it. I guess I could play the lame, nagging friend of the beautiful white protagonist, but I’m neither going to have as much fun nor make as much doing that.”
Read the full interview in this week’s Entertainment Weekly, available at newsstands everywhere. The Mindy Project returns for its second season next month on Fox.
I think this comment of hers is annoying: “Do people really wonder on other shows if female leads are dating multicultural people” she asks. “Like I owe it to every race and minority and beleaguered person. I have to become the United Nations of shows? ”
She says that, but then makes a comment about how she needs to write her own part because (she implies) starring roles for women of color are limited. And the point is not about “dating multicultural people”—it’s that she’s an Indian American woman, and only has dated white men on her show. Some of the comments on the Jezebel article really get to the heart of why this is problematic. There is a power dynamic, and while I admire her success, it also makes me queasy that she so unapologetically plays into the mainstream culture of white is right. It reminds of the Indian American kid in middle school/high school who’d downplay their “Indianness” as much as possible in order to fit in with the white popular kids. And the fact that Mindy tries gloss over it as much as possible reminds me of that sort of attitude.