This fall FOX has a stellar line up of primetime laughs and comedy with returning favorites New Girl and Raising Hope and new girl on the block, Mindy Kaling.

Her breakout role on The Office as the boisterous Kelly Kapoor has propelled her onto the national acting stage.  Now Mindy Kaling stars in the new comedy series, The Mindy Project, she is the creator, producer and performer. The show follows the life of a very successful OB/Gyn, Mindy Lahiri who tries to balance her career and dating life. “Dr. Lahiri is obsessed with love and dating,” Mindy shared in our interview.

The Emmy award-winning actress was hired on The Office as a writer and performer where she later went on to direct several episodes on the 8th season. To listen to her schedule roll off her tongue sounds easy and almost like a fantasy life; one where she gets to be on TV, be her own boss, writes her own lines, hang out with cool people and is split between work and play. Play includes socializing after work with the people she loves and work with.

Mindy is very fortunate in that she gets to be her own boss and call the shots. However, the drawback to being in charge is the grueling schedule and at times, limited social life. “I want to live. This is a job and I love this job. It is an amazing dream come true. I would not be a good writer or a good actor if I cannot see other things.  I want to go home, go on dates, hangout, party and stuff,” shared the New York Times best-selling author.

This career driven actor, is up at wee hours in the morning, and ends her evenings close to or around midnight on and off set. “It sounds like a long schedule. Because it is my show, I‘m working with essentially all my best friends. It feels like a grueling vacation,” she says.

As the boss, Mindy is also willing to accept that it will be a challenge to have an even balance with work and social life and understands that she has to make sacrifices for her new show. She has to find a way to make it work. She tries not to fixate on anyone thing, but constantly shifting focus. The actress spends a great deal of time hiring writers, heads of department, and actors; her support team. This helps her balance her jobs. “I have an amazing team. If it wasn’t for them I actually couldn’t do this job.”

The Mindy Project is a first year show and like most hardworking and determined professionals, she wants this to be perfect. “Right now it‘s all I think about 26 hours a day,” she shared in our interview. ” And to aid her success, she has employed some simple strategies like having an easy set and no fights. “I hate fights, snippiness, and sarcasm in the workplace.”

As one of Hollywood’s 10 Funniest Actress, Mindy recognizes the accomplishments of her fellow female stars and praised Tina Fey and Amy Poehler on their hosting gig on the upcoming Golden Globes. “I can’t wait to watch them,” she says.

Juggling all these jobs the body needs sustenance, in order to keep up–a blend of fruits and vegetables is her power food source. “That‘s a disgusting green potion that I believe keeps me alive,” Mindy said.

Having written for theatre and television, the actor finds them both grueling. However, she finds there is some satisfaction from the instant feedback of the live audience when it comes down to a theatre setting. “I miss theatre because a live audience is fun,” says Mindy. “You get such an instant feedback.”

Actors, crews and everything on set becomes your audience when it comes to television. Moreover, you have to wait 6 weeks for the finished product to air and to actually get a reaction from the television audience. “I miss instant feedback,” she says.

Watching the cheerful actress perform over the years, you can definitely understand why she has become a success. She has a natural and authentic appeal that fans appreciate. Although Mindy gained super-stardom from The Office, she appreciates her start but want to be recognized for her own thing, The Mindy Project. “The show is new; I want them to see my character,” she continued. “I would love if the series goes on for many years.”

She also has a list of do’s and don’ts for her new show. Using The Office as an example, she said there would not be a lot of singing and dancing on the show. No stock characters, no bimbo or the sassy black woman. “Those are things you see sometimes and I think they‘re not very fresh,” Mindy stated.

Dr. Lahiri is Mindy’s fantasy; she is exciting, glamorous and has an obsession with dating and partying. “Dr. Lahiri is obsessed with love and dating,” she said. Mindy on the other hand is nerdy, shy, boring and has a temperament that is pretty even keeled.

Mindy’s goal with Dr. Lahiri’s character is for her to be realistic, authentic, interesting and nuanced. She is doing stuff that women and guys watching wish they could do that, but they cannot. “When a man does it, I don’t know if you call it obnoxious, when a woman does it—it‘s rarer,” she shared. “So many of the female characters I see on TV are put upon and boring, and they are so worried about viewers not being able to handle it.”

Comedy is her specialty but it is not the only thing in her repertoire. Her current interest is a movie starring Anne Hathaway. She has been a fan of the actor for a long time and always admired her work. “I have been a fan of Anne Hathaway since as long as I can remember,” she said. In the Mindy’s new movie, Anne will not play her regular gorgeous heroine role, instead her character will be unglamorous, a little dowdy and down on herself. “I think that she can play Cat Woman, but is also willing to play this dreary part,” she continued. “She is not looking like a sexy leading lady in this movie.”

Mindy Kaling is versatile, talented, and confident and is willing to put herself out there by taking risks and having continuously delivers clean humor to her fans and audiences.

For more on Mindy’s new show, visit the FOX network website.

By: Daedrian McNaughton | Premier Guide Media.