Mindy Kaling was the first South Asian woman to lead a sitcom. People said she was "unattractive".

Mindy Kaling is one of the funniest people on television.

For years now she has worked on screen and behind the scenes on some of Hollywood's most successful shows - The Office, T he Mindy Project and Never Have I Ever.

Initially, Mindy didn't have her sights set on the entertainment industry. The daughter of South Asian immigrants, Mindy grew up in Massachusetts and attended Dartmouth College. While she was studying, she interned on Conan O'Brien's talk show. And it changed everything.

One of the trailers for The Mindy Project. Post continues below.

By her early 20s, she had written a comedy play that debuted at the New York International Fringe Festival. It was so well received that it landed her a comedy writing gig on the first season of The Office, starring John Krasinski and Steve Carell. 

In the writer's room, Mindy was the only woman, and also the only person of colour.

"I was the youngest, and I was a staff writer that came from New York that had no TV experience. I think that the sort of sexism that I see has been one that's a little bit like a gentler form of sexism. [It's] still a little bit debilitating. When, as a producer and a writer, if I make a decision, it'll still seem like it's up for debate," she said to NPR.

Two years into the job, she landed a role on the hit sitcom as Kelly Kapoor. She continued to work behind the scenes as co-executive producer and writer of 22 of the Emmy award-winning show's episodes.

Following her departure from The Office, Mindy went on to write, produce and star in The Mindy Project - and it was unlike anything Hollywood had seen on television.

The Mindy Project was a sitcom that featured her as an Obstetrician-Gynecologist called Mindy Lahiri who she describes as "delusionally confident" and "unapologetically selfish". Hilariously, Mindy said the character was inspired by her mother. It ran from 2012 to 2017 and was a ratings hit with a strong fanbase.

Many believe it was such a hit because it represented something fresh and modern on television - showcasing that women of colour can be leading characters. 

"I often forget that ... being Indian, an Indian-American woman who is not pencil thin - that is very new to broadcast television," Mindy later said to NPR.

"I sort of refuse to be an outsider, even though I know that I very much look like one to a lot of people, and I refuse to view myself in such terms."

When The Mindy Project aired in 2012, Mindy was shocked to realise that TV critics felt it was appropriate to comment on her looks. 

"You're ugly and fat it's so refreshing," Mindy said one journalist wrote about her. 

"I think it's great that you dare to be on camera when you're so unappealing," another one said.

"I didn't know I was so unattractive until I was the star of my own show," she said in an interview with Marie Claire. "The amount of articles that were like, 'It's so good for a culture that this unattractive woman is finally on camera'."

Mindy in The Mindy Project. Image: Fox. It's not the first time she has spoken about sexism and the hurtful comments made about her appearance - often by older white men. Kaling last year said a male journalist once told her she should "lose 15 pounds" in the early days of her career.

"I remember thinking that I am already someone who is getting up before a call time at 6:30 am to go to the gym to do the elliptical for 45 minutes," she said on Good Morning America.

"This is my greatest insecurity and someone just called it out. When that moment happened, it was so huge to me. And it was one of those things where you can’t express anger and hurt in a room like that."

It was from experiences like these that once made Mindy want to focus on writing, producing and directing, as opposed to acting.

"That kind of dissonance has really affected so much of what I've written about and the type of characters I write. What a lot of writers do is take the truth, put it in a new situation and have 'yourself' [the character] react in the way you wish you had."

This is exactly what Kaling has done since - whether it be on The Mindy Project, Never Have I Ever or her recent film with Emma Thompson Late Night - a movie which mirrored a lot of what she experienced in the early days of The Office. She is also now working on the screenplay for Legally Blonde 3.

In 2017, Mindy had her first child, a daughter named Katherine Swati. 

Then in late 2020, Mindy announced on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that she had recently given birth to a boy, Spencer Avu. She had hidden the pregnancy thanks to lockdown orders during the pandemic.

Mindy has chosen not to publicly confirm the identity of the children's father(s), saying she has always been a single mum. 

Listen to The Spill: Mindy Kaling and the motherhood conversation we should be having. Post continues after audio.

Reflecting on the decision not to show the kids' faces publicly, Mindy said: "I feel like I might as well wait until they get old enough so they can tell me if they want to be part of my social media or not. I'm like any parent where I'm proud of the things they do," she explained. "I think they're so cute, and of course, I want other people to see it."

In a new profile this month with Marie Claire, Mindy said she takes a cautious approach with her kids' privacy, given she's in the spotlight. 

"I want them to be old enough to talk to me about it and [tell me] how they want me to talk about it. I'm the only parent my kids have… I think I err on the side of super cautious so that there's less things that they can potentially be mad at me about down the line."

Mindy became a mother in her late 30s, saying it was when she felt most financially stable and secure in being a single parent. In the interview, she also said she hasn't "ruled out romance".

"Culture largely says, 'We don't wanna hear about you. Your entire deal bums everyone out.' If you're a 42-year-old [single] woman with kids, it makes people sad… I'm like, 'There is hope for us. There could be great stories about women, like me, finding love, finding happiness…' I can't imagine anyone besides me would write it, so I have to find the time to do that," Mindy said.

For years there have been widely reported suggestions that Mindy has been in a relationship with her The Office co-star BJ Novak. The pair dated from 2004 to 2007, before ending things and staying very close friends. 

 "It doesn't bother me. He's the godparent to both my kids - and they have such a great relationship - and so far [the rumours haven't] affected my happiness at all, it hasn't affected my kids or BJ… If that's what is going to be titillating to people, I'll take it," she said. 

Mindy and B.J. Image: Getty. 

Now at the top of her career, Mindy said that she no longer cares what some TV critic says about her looks. 

"When you are ignored in that way, one of the things that happens is confidence and asking for things based on your professional career. We tell young women...to be confident, be confident, and to just grasp it out of thin air, and I think that's confusing. Because for me I've never had any [innate] confidence," she said. 

"I've just done the legwork. I think that's sort of been the key to everything in my life."

And it's paid off, especially for Netflix's hit series Never Have I Ever.

"It means the world to me that 40 million people tuned in to watch the first season. It was so rewarding to see that," she said on TODAY. "What seems specific - an Indian American family and mostly women - is really universal - themes like coming-of-age and wanting to fit in."

Feature Image: Stan/Instagram @mindykaling.

Can’t live without your phone or the internet? Take our survey now and you go in the running to win a $100 gift voucher!

TAKE SURVEY ➤