After receiving the Producers Guild of America (PGA) Norman Lear Achievement Award on Saturday night, Mindy Kaling dedicated the honor to her late mother and thanked “The Office” producers Greg Daniels and Howard Klein for mentoring her early on in her career.
Presenting the award to Kaling, 43, was her “The Office” co-star and co-writer B.J. Novak, 43, who reminisced on working with Kaling and praised her during a nearly eight-minute speech.
“The first thing I noticed about Mindy in that writers’ room is she cared so much about everything… her opinions were passionate and unstoppable, and she cared about all the issues of the day,” he said. “We were in love with each other, and we were reckless idiots, and the two of us would argue about all of these things forever grinding the writers room into a halt until we got too upset and we go to our respective offices and slammed the door where we would continue arguing over AOL and instant messenger. It was 2005.”
In her speech, the “Velma” executive producer and voice actor thanked Novak, whom she referred to as her “closest friend” who has seen “all the ups and downs” throughout her career.
“I am so lucky that my favorite writer is also my best friend. I love you,” she added.
Kaling also honored her immigrant parents in her speech, thanking them and dedicating her new award to her late mother.
“Like many of you here, I am the child of immigrants,” she told the cheering crowd, “and that, unexpectedly, became my secret weapon. My parents modeled a work ethic for me that later made the enormous challenge of launching a TV show seem doable.” She also noted how her parents supported her decision to enter show business.
Later on in her speech, the Indian American actor mentioned that around 12 years ago, she had to take a three-month break from filming “The Office” to be with her mother, who was becoming weak…
Read the full article here
