Actress Mindy Kaling tells why she has taken a break from acting

Hollywood star Mindy Kaling has talked about why she has taken a step back from acting. During a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter as part of the Paley Media Council Series. Kaling detailed how her superstitions played a role in that decision while explaining why she didn’t make a cameo in her Netflix series Never Have I Ever, reports people.com.

Kaling and Lang Fisher co-created the teen comedy, which ran for four seasons and takes inspiration from Kaling’s cultural upbringing.

“A show literally about an Indian American family in Southern California, and if I wasn’t on that — what’s wrong with me?” Kaling began. “I think there is a part of me that feels a little superstitious. I’m like, ‘these seem to have gone well and I’m not in them so maybe I’ll wait.’”

Kaling said fans may see more of her on screen soon. “I miss it. I would like to write or co-create a show for me to act in soon.” For Kaling, she would love to have the opportunity to double as an actor and director in her next project, which is “unbelievably fun and it’s so efficient.”

She said: “I would love to do that again. That’s the thing that maybe in the next couple of years, when I launch a couple of other things that are earlier in the pipeline, that would be something that would be fun to do again.” In February, Kaling’s co-created and executive-produced Netflix show Running Point was released, starring Kate Hudson in the lead role. While attending an Emmy consideration event for their Netflix show, Hudson praised Kaling’s work ethic, especially after giving birth. Kaling has three children: a daughter, born in 2017, a son, born in 2020 and a daughter born in 2024. She has kept the paternity of her children private.

Kaling first gained recognition for playing Kelly Kapoor in the NBC sitcom The Office (2005—2013), on which she also worked as a writer. For her work on it, she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series. She gained wider attention for creating, producing and playing the title role in the Fox/Hulu sitcom The Mindy Project (2012—2017). She then created other television comedy series, including Never Have I Ever (2020—2023), The Sex Lives of College Girls (2021—2025), and Running Point (since 2025).

Her film career includes voice roles in Despicable Me (2010), Wreck-It Ralph (2012), and Inside Out (2015) as well as live action roles in No Strings Attached (2011), The Five-Year Engagement (2012), A Wrinkle in Time (2018), Ocean’s 8 (2018), and Late Night (2019), the last of which she also wrote and produced. She wrote two memoirs both reaching The New York Times Best Seller list. She also received a Tony Award for Best Musical as a producer for the musical A Strange Loop.

Agencies