Vera Mindy Chokalingam, known professionally as Mindy Kaling[1] (born June 24, 1979 in Cambridge, Massachusetts) is an American actress and comedian.[2] She is also a writer and acts mostly on television programs.
Kaling was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts to Indian Hindu parents. Her mother was a doctor while her father was an architect.[2] She was named "Mindy" after the character in the television series Mork & Mindy.[2] She describes herself as a child calling herself "a respectful and hardworking wallflower".[2] She took up acting when she attended Dartmouth College. She took a break from college for a semester to intern with Late Night with Conan O'Brien.[2] Kaling was a member of Dartmouth's improv troupe "The Dog Day Players". She also created "Badly Drawn Girl". a comic strip for the Dartmouth newspaper.[3] In the play "+Matt & Ben" she played Ben Affleck. It was featured on Time Magazine"s 2003 "Top Ten Theatrical Events of the Year".[3] She graduated in 2001.[3]
In 2005 Kaling began playing the airhead Kelly Kapoor in the situation comedy The Office.[3] Kaling was also a writer and producer for the show.[3] She plays the protagonist in The Mindy Project.[4] She is a feminist.[5] In 2005 Kaling acted in a film for the first time. She played a character called Amy in The 40 Year Old Virgin.
In 2014 Kaling was on one of the four February covers of ELLE Magazine. It started a controversy because she was the only one of the four that was not a full-body shot. The question became "Mindy's not skinny enough to show her whole body, standing up from head to toe?"[6] Kaling said she liked the cover and it made her feel glamorous.[6]
She appeared as Mrs. Who in the 2018 Disney movie A Wrinkle in Time. She also played Velma Dinkley in Velma