How Mindy Kaling Feels About Her Surprise Pregnancy

pregnant mindy kaling

Mindy Kaling caught her fans and Hollywood friends by surprise with her pregnancy news. In a new interview, the 38-year-old comedic actress is opening up about how pregnancy is surprising her and changing her life. According to Kaling, one significant change is that she is no longer in total control and feels great about it. Kaling said,

It's so unknown to me. I have a lot of control over a lot of aspects of my life, and this is one where I'm like, 'OK, it's out of my hands,' which is kind of a fun feeling.

Mindy Kaling certainly has worn many leadership hats over the years. She has the lead role on The Mindy Project, which is entering its sixth and final season. Kaling is also an executive producer and writer on the show. Plus, she used to be an executive producer, writer, and director of The Office, on which she had a starring role.

Also, Mindy Kaling has written books and starred in movies; she's even set to appear in the upcoming film adaptation of Madeleine L'Engle's science-fantasy novel A Wrinkle in Time. So, it probably feels nice to put aside the control on this one. At the same time, there reportedly will be no changes in the production schedule for The Mindy Project or Kaling's other jobs to accommodate her pregnancy, so giving up control does not mean stopping the momentum.

Mindy Kaling talked about her state of emotions in an interview with Willie Geist for an upcoming episode of Sunday Today. Ever the comedian, Kaling joked,

As you know, it's so easy to criticize parenting until you're a parent, so one of the nice things about becoming a parent is that I'll be able to openly criticize other parenting, because I'll have a child.

In the interview, Mindy Kaling opened up about her late mother. Kaling described her mom as "incredibly fierce and so devoted to us," and she explained that her encouraged her "to be happy no matter what we did." Kaling said that a career in show business was outside of her mom's wheelhouse, but her mom remained an ardent supporter of her. Kaling said she hopes to take a similarly open-minded approach and make her child feel supported in ways her mother did for her.

While the interview served as Mindy Kaling's first major confirmation of the pregnancy, sources close to her revealed the news last month. In fact, Oprah Winfrey was among them. Winfrey, who also stars in A Wrinkle in Time, talked about learning Kaling would become a mom. The billionaire media mogul said Kaling told her at the press line for the film. Winfrey was stunned but giddy with excitement, so she asked her costar, Reese Witherspoon, and the movie's director, Ava Duvernay, and both of them had just found out, too.

Mindy Kaling is such a fun and inspiring person, so that child is likely going to be one lucky kid.