Mindy Kaling’s success with the new comedy Late Night — a film she wrote, produced, and starred in — is the payoff to years of hard work on and off screen, as well as sacrifices in her personal life.
Kaling, 39, dwelled upon her work ethic at the Producers Guild of America’s Produced By Conference in Burbank, California, on Saturday, June 8, as she revealed some of her career highs.
“I think having being on set and seeing [Late Night costar] Emma Thompson — my favorite living actor — to see play this character and say my lines and to be scoring in a way that everyone from the cameraman to the grip to the sound guy is laughing, it feels good,” she said. “I think shooting this movie, three months after I had my first baby was something that made me proud of doing. And then just, I think my work on The Office — I wrote 24 episodes of that show, and I worked so hard.”
Kaling served as a writer, director and producer on The Office while appearing in 161 episodes of the NBC hit. “I kind of essentially gave over my 20s and my love life and my friend life to that show,” she said at the panel, explaining that another highlight is “the fact that people still watch it and people who [were] not even alive when it first came out now know the episode I wrote.”
The Mindy Project alum, who welcomed daughter Katherine in December 2017, also shared advice to other women breaking into show business. “Starting out, more often than not, you will get treated unfairly, even though you’re working your ass off,” she said. “And I think making sure that every day, you’re going into it with the feeling of, like, ‘OK, I want to be of service,’ and not, ‘How do I get the credit?’ Because people will try to take that from you anyway, but consistent hard work, I believe, will make it so that you will succeed no matter what.”
With reporting by Taylor Ferber
