Anyone who’s seen ‘Inside Out’, ‘Wreck it Ralph’ or ‘Despicable Me’ will, although they may not know it, have heard the voice of actress, writer, and director Mindy Kaling. Nominated for thirty three awards, a writer and director of the two award winning sitcoms “The Office” and “The Mindy Project”, Kaling is certainly a figurehead for female writers, specifically comedy writers, in an industry which is male (9% of film scripts sold in 2010-2012 were written by women- Definitive Spec Script Sales List). As well as a talented writer, Kaling is also a notable actor, having starred in the previously mentioned Disney Pixar and Universal Pictures films, both her hit sitcoms, and 10 other notable films and television shows. Kaling’s positivity, quotability, talent and tenacity certainly make her worthy as any individual’s role model, and certainly qualify her as an inspirational figure.
Mindy Kaling, otherwise known as Vera Mindy Chokalingham, was born in Massachusetts, with an architect father, and an OBGYN mother. With parents in such competitive fields, it’s not surprise that Kaling found the courage to pursue her dream, graduating in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in playwriting from the University of Dartmouth. Beginning her career as a stand up comedian, Kaling found that the emcees could never pronounce her surname, and, predominantly for ease, shortened her surname to ‘Kaling’. As for her first name, like many individuals, Kaling has always been called by her middle name, Mindy, rather than Vera. After graduating, Kaling worked both as a stage manager, and a stand up comedian, before her 2002 play “Matt and Ben”, written and performed with her best friend from University, was named one of ‘Time’s top ten theatrical events of the year”. This success prompted Daniel’s hiring of her onto “The Office” as a writer, and she swiftly became the most prolific, credited with twenty five episodes. This continued for several years, until in 2012, Kaling pitched a single camera comedy to FOX, and “The Mindy Project” was born.
As well as a talented, and undoubtedly hardworking woman, Kaling is also fully prepared, and humbled, by her position as a role model, especially for pre-teen, and teenage girls. In her two books “Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (and Other Concerns”, and “Why Not Me?”, Kaling offers a fountain of advice, humour, and comfort for any and all who has, or is navigating their way through the emotional hardships of adolescence and young adulthood. She addresses her teenage fans directly in an open letter as a preface to Tavi Gevinson’s book “Rookie”, stating “I think about you all the time. Sometimes with anger- because, let’s face it, you tend to be very loud and expressive on the subway- but more often with affection, because I know how hard this time is for you, and you are cute and don’t know what the hell you are doing, like yearlings whose legs are still wobbly.” The realism, humour, and comfort in her words is enough for anyone to understand Kaling, and why so many people consider her an inspirational figure. As the fifth season of “The Mindy Project” begins on April 12th, there is no doubt that we’ll have even more hilarious, wonderful content from Kaling, very soon.
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