To celebrate the return of The Mindy Project, nice weather, life, etc. here is a list of seven things you didn’t know about the show’s star and creator.
1. She’s an ivy league graduate. Mindy graduated from Dartmouth College in 2001 where she originally majored in Latin, but ended up getting her degree in playwriting. So it’s okay to not know what you want to do at first.
2. In 2003, Mindy and her best friend from college, Brenda, co-wrote and starred in the play Matt and Ben. Mindy and Brenda played younger, not yet successful versions of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck who were one day blessed with the manuscript of their movie Good Will Hunting after it literally fell into their laps (from the cieling). Another fun fact about this is that during one of their performances, Mindy accidentally broke Brenda’s nose in the midst of what was meant to be a “friendly” fight.
3. During her time at Dartmouth, Mindy had a comic strip called “Badly Drawn Girl” that gives you a little glimpse into what her experience was like. Once you read it, you’ll be all like, “Oh my gosh, we’re basically the same person! Comedy is my calling!”
(You can find more of the comics here)
4. The summer of her sophomore year at Dartmouth, she interned with Conan O’Brien in New York City. She claims that she was the “worst that’s even worked on the program” but only because she just wanted to watch Conan’s perform rather than make photocopies.
5. Her first big break was as writer for NBC’s The Office. You probably already know that, but she’s still very close with the rest of the former writers and cast. Mindy considers BJ Novak as her best friend, and enjoys making fun of Rainn Wilson.
(Just wait for the part where they break character)
Also: “When people call me either a girl crush or their best friend, like, the best friend they want, that’s, to me, the best compliment anyone could ever give me.”
You’re so welcome, Mindy.