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We adore Vera Mindy Chokalingam, or as we call her, Mindy Kaling. She is a gifted, droll, smart actor/ comedian/writer/producer/director who plays the showbiz game her way. From 2005 to 2013, she wrote for, and performed on the NBC sitcom The Office, receiving an Emmy Award in 2010.

Kaling created, wrote, produced and starred in the Fox/Hulu comedy series The Mindy Project (2012–2017). In 2018, she has been the co-creater, writer, and producer for the sitcom Champions, in which she also has a recurring role. Kaling’s film career includes voice work for Despicable Me (2010), Wreck It Ralph (2012), and Inside Out (2015); plus starring roles in the fantasy A Wrinkle In Time and the heist-comedy Ocean’s 8 (both 2018).

She has written two New York Times bestselling memoirs: Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) (2011) and Why Not Me? (2015).

Kaling is buddies with B.J. Novak, her writing partner for The Office. The two dated on and off while writing and acting on the show, sometimes mirroring the on-again, off-again relationship between their respective characters. She insists that Novak is not the father of her daughter born in 2017.

In 2012, Kaling was included in the Time 100 Most Influential People, and  in 2014, she was named one of Glamour magazine’s Women of the Year. She has received three SAG Awards and The Gracie Award for Women in Television.

This spring, her new film Late Night debuts at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival Mindy Kaling’s new movie is on the list. Directed by Nisha Ganatra and written by Kaling, Late Night stars Emma Thompson as a famous late-night talk show host who hires her first female staff writer (Kaling) to win over viewers concerned with a lack of diversity.