Where this was said
The Office: The Only Woman in the Room
At 31:58 · chapter starts 29:35
Mindy's entry into The Office is a story of imposter syndrome in the most accomplished room she'd ever been in. Rather than triumph, she felt behind — these writers had Emmys, she was just happy to be there. She became a workaholic because she was friendless in LA and obsessed with impressing the talent around her: Greg Daniels, BJ Novak, Paul Lieberstein. The role of Kelly Kapoor emerged almost accidentally: Greg Daniels needed an Indian person in the scene for Diversity Day so that Michael Scott would actually be offending someone. Being the Indian writer in the room suddenly had on-camera implications. Mindy then reflects on how groundbreaking The Office was in the aughts for its philosophy — Greg Daniels' principle that 'what is beautiful is what is real' — at a time when network comedy required conventionally attractive leads.
Mindy got on camera completely by accident: Greg Daniels needed someone Indian in the room for the Diversity Day episode so Michael Scott would actually be offending people. Being a writer who happened to be Indian landed her a role — and then an entirely different career.
