The Office - Mindy Kaling Interview
ByThe Office is back in production, with Season 6 set to premiere September 17th and I recently had the chance to speak to Mindy Kaling about what’s to come. Kaling does double duty on the show, serving both as a writer and a cast member - playing the role of the eternally bubbly Kelly Kapoor.
Kaling talked about writing a pivotal episode this season, Kelly’s taste in men and more – not to mention her recent deal with NBC, that has Kaling developing her own series.
IGN TV: The Michael Scott Paper Company storyline was a pretty big departure for the series. Going into this year, are things a bit more back to normal for the time being?
Mindy Kaling: Yes. I think the show is going to stay in that classic Office stuff for awhile – for at least six to eight episodes. The wedding episode is the fourth one and that has some kind of crazy stuff in it, but I think because it is the wedding and people have been waiting for so long, we’ve earned it a little bit for that one. Plus, you can’t have a wedding in an office! But everything else will be good old fashioned Office episodes with A stories and B stories inside the office.
IGN: You’re writing the wedding episode, right?
Kaling: Yes, [Office Executive Producer] Greg Daniels and I are co-writing the wedding episode.
IGN: The many rabid Jim & Pam (or “Jam”) fans are going to expect a lot. Does that put the pressure on?
Kaling: I know! Well, the thing about writing with Greg is it’s not like writing with just another writer, because the buck kind of stops with him, because he’s my boss. I’ve been nervous about pissing him off and stuff! But he loves Jim and Pam, or Jam, more than almost anyone. Of all the people on the show, he’s the most committed to the extreme romantic aspect of the show.
IGN: How do you determine who writes a big episode like that?
Kaling: I think Paul Lieberstein, who’s now the showrunner, he just has an idea of whose voice he’d like to see on something. And I think when I did the two-parter last year, “The Lecture Circuit”, that maybe he was thinking, “Okay, well this episode should be funny, but have serious stuff too,” which is what this [wedding] episode hopefully will be.
IGN: Kelly has had a busy love life the past year. How is she doing this season?
Kaling: Somebody said to me, “Kelly’s into black men” and I’m like, “I guess she is!” Kelly loves black men. Obviously there’s going to be some stuff with Ryan again, because they have a… BJ [Novak] and I love acting together, because we’re like best friends. We always think of scenes when we can be together, and unfortunately, they’re almost always romantic. But actually, there’s going to be a lot of music and dance for Kelly this season, because I love music and dance… But in a relatable Office way!
IGN: I really loved the dancing in “Cafe Disco” last season. It seemed like it had to be fun to shoot, because you got to be so goofy and just dance together.
Kaling: Yes, it was completely fun to shoot. And someone like Ed [Helms], who is now like a movie star, basically… To get him to come back to our dingy little office and cut a rug is so fun. I feel like it’s really rare and it’s just great. When he and Steve [Carell] do stuff like that, you’re like, “Oh my god, someone would pay a lot of money to see this, and I work here.”
IGN: We recently went back and reviewed the second episode of The Office, and our writer, Travis Fickett, noted that Kelly was quite different back then.
Kaling: Completely, yeah.
IGN: His theory was that perhaps Michael so damaged Kelly during “Diversity Day” that she reverted to her high school persona.
Kaling: That is a great rationalization! The actual thing that happened was I said, “I am not wearing that outfit for another four years! I am 25 years old!”, because that’s when we started the show… No, I was 24 then. My god. I’m 30 now, because I’ve been doing the show for so long! But I was like, “I can’t!” Everyone changed though. Nobody really looks the way that we used to.
IGN: Congratulations on your development deal.
Kaling: Thank you!
IGN: I know it’s still early, but any ideas you’re mulling over?
Kaling: Yeah, I do. I would love to do an office-set comedy. It’s not going to be a mockumentary I think, because Mike and Greg, I think they do it well enough that I don’t want to try. I just want to do a straight up theatrical show with scoring. Maybe it’s dated to do a straight comedy now, but 30 Rock does it!
IGN: Are you on any sort of timetable with that? Are you aiming to have a show for next fall, or two years from now?
Kaling: Next fall would be amazing. I’ve wanted a show since I was a little kid, so I’ve had lots of pre-production time on this! I would love to finish the script sometime soon and maybe get a cool producer attached and do it. It seems like NBC is the no-brainer network if you’re a woman in comedy right now, so I feel like if they want to take a risk in me now, they’re crazy, but I might as well strike while the iron is hot!
IGN: If your own show began while The Office is still going, have you thought about what would cause Kelly to leave Dunder Mifflin?
Kaling: I feel like there’s not enough murders and deaths in half-hour comedies. So if we can think of a really creative way to kill her, that would be it.
IGN: [Laughs] It could be a mystery thing.
Kaling: Like a Simpsons, “Who shot Mr. Burns?”
IGN: Yeah. “Who killed Kelly?”
Kaling: God, I can already see Greg rolling in his grave when I propose that Kelly gets murdered. He’s like, “What show do you think we are?!”
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