Mindy Kaling recalls her unexpected transition from “The Office” writer to Kelly Kapoor: 'One of the funniest episodes ever'
Mindy Kaling recalls her unexpected transition from “The Office” writer to Kelly Kapoor: 'One of the funniest episodes ever'
Raechal ShewfeltFri, July 3, 2026 at 2:00 PM UTC
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Mindy Kaling on June 4 in Newport Beach, Calif., and as Kelly Kapoor on 'The Office'Credit: Tiffany Rose/Getty; Mitchell Haaseth/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via GettyKey Points -
The Office writer and star Mindy Kaling recalled in a new interview how she learned that she would be on camera.
Kaling had been "content to be a comedy writer for the rest of my life," and she was surprised by the turn of events.
She noted that playing someone as "delusional" as Kelly Kapoor had been a delight.
Mindy Kaling, who hilarious portrayed The Office's Kelly Kapoor, explained how it felt to go from a writer on the NBC show to an actor on it, as well.
"The way that I got the part was B.J. [Novak, who played Ryan Howard] had written this episode called 'Diversity Day,'" Kaling told Amy Poehler on a recent episode of the Parks and Recreation alum's Good Hang podcast.
Kaling called the 2005 episode, only the second in what turned out to be a nine-season series, "one of the funniest episodes in The Office ever."
And it is pretty hilarious — and more than a little uncomfortable at times, as the bumbling branch manager Michael Scott (played deftly by Steve Carell) attempts to teach diversity to his staffers. Of course, he's the worst offender of all.
Steve Carell and Mindy Kaling on 'The Office'Credit: Paul Drinkwater/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty
"In order for it to be funny that Michael Scott was offending a room of people — it wasn't as funny if it was just all white, you needed to be offending some people," she said. "And so I was so lucky to be in the writers room and being Indian, ߴcause he's like, 'Would you play someone that he offends and then slaps him?'"
Kaling was shocked at the request.
"I was just content to be a comedy writer for the rest of my life. That was my dream come true," she said. "So to be on camera was just outrageous."
At the time, Kaling noted, it was rare that women who weren't stereotypically hot were featured on TV. But creator Greg Daniels had a different philosophy.
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"It's like, 'What is beautiful is what is real,'" the Not Suitable for Work creator said. "And that wasn't very many shows."
Not that Kapoor wasn't attractive, just perhaps not as spectacular as she thought — which was more than anyone could be.
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"She thinks she's the hottest person at the office and feels bad for [Jenna Fischer's] Pam and thinks [Novak's] Ryan is a huge catch. And that she's destined for fame. And so that is fun. I mean, it's so fun to play delusional characters and then to be able to then be delusional in The Mindy Project with a different character."
Kaling was part of the cast for the rest of the series.
After The Office concluded in May 2013 — though it's still alive and well via streaming and reruns, Kaling headlined her own series, The Mindy Project, for six seasons from 2012 to 2017. She starred as Mindy Lahiri, an OB-GYN obsessed with romantic comedies.
Watch their full conversation above.
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
