Mindy Kaling on Her Full-Circle Kelly Kapoor Moment and How Colorful Sharpies Help Her Stay Creative

The 'Never Have I Ever' creator chats about the art of penmanship, how she finds a creative outlet with her kids and why her Netflix series colleague Kate Hudson is "so dazzling."

By Danielle Directo-Meston

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Danielle Directo-Meston

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“I think it’s not a surprise about me that I love color,” Kaling continues. “I love kind of girly things, and to me, if it adds another flair to something that’s professional, like a letter or a thank you note, I will use it. That’s one of the reasons I like them because of how vivid the color is and how it pops on light and dark paper. At the holiday time I’m going to be so excited addressing all my Christmas cards with these.”

Earlier this month, the Never Have I Ever creator (and former The Office star and writer) stopped the Sharpie Studio at South By Southwest earlier this month to share her creative process and secret to success in Hollywood. “What I learned I had to do was I had to act, I had to learn how to edit, and I learned how to direct and hold a camera because no one else would do it for me and I couldn’t afford to pay someone,” Kaling told the crowd, CBS Austin reports. The pop-up also encouraged visitors to tap into their inner artist — or add some pep to their penmanship — by way of postcard writing stations, tote bag personalization and more art stations fully stocked with colorful new offerings from Sharpie and Paper Mate.

Sharpie

Sister stationery brands Sharpie and Paper Mate recently surveyed 2,000 Americans and found that 78 percent of respondents called themselves either “very or somewhat creative,” but 71 percent said they wish they “engaged in creative activities more often.” The poll also found that 37 percent of participants used writing, painting, drawing or doodling as a form of stress relief, and that 94 percent of Gen Z respondents “agreed taht creativity is a reflection of their personal brand.”

Now available online at Amazon, Walmart, Staples and other retailers, Sharpie’s Creative Markers come in brush or bullet tip options and feature vibrant paint-like ink that can be used on paper, canvas, metal, wood, ceramic, glass and rock. Paper Mate’s retractable InkJoy Gel Bright pens come in sets of 10, 14 or 36 and features super-bright hues that dry three times faster.

Below, THR catches up with Kaling on how her new collaborators compare to Dunder Mifflin, how she and her kids spend quality time through art, her note-taking style and what it’s been like working with Kate Hudson for the first time.

Partnering with Sharpie and Paper Mate must be a fun full-circle moment, since most people first got to know you as Kelly Kapoor, who you played for nine seasons on The Office.

Wait, that’s such a good point! Obviously, Dunder Mifflin is far more dysfunctional than my friends at Paper Mate and Sharpie. But yes, that is so funny. I’m actually back from Austin where I was basically living in the Sharpie house playing with my Paper Mate InkJoy Gel Bright pens for several days in a row, which was so much fun.

What made you say yes to the partnership?

For me it was so easy because I’ve used Sharpies since I was 24 and a comedy writer because the way that we write stories is we would use the traditional Sharpies that you think of — the black, red, green — we use them on cards when we break stories. So I was already fan and then they sent me their Creative Markers and then the Paper-Mate InkJoy Gel Brights, and they were just so much fun.

My kids saw them instantly and were all over them. And there’s not a big overlap in the Venn diagram of stuff that my kids and I both adore. I’m very intimidated by drawing and anything sort of visually artistic and these make it so fun. So it was really easy.

Paper Mate Inkjoy Gel Bright! Pens, Medium Point (0.7mm), 6 Count

$13 at Amazon

It’s funny that you say that because it ties into Sharpie and Paper Mate’s survey. So many people equate creativity with what you just said — with drawing, music or art, but for some it can be just journaling or just the act of writing itself. What were some of your earliest creative outlets in that sense?

It’s so funny you mentioned that because my daughter is 6 now and she’s getting very into private thoughts and things like that. And so she loves buying little journals with the little locks on them. And I think when I was that age, I also really liked the idea of writing in a journal. But if I had, for instance, one of these InkJoy Gel Bright pens, I would’ve been inspired to write more because I think there’s something about this sort of joy and creative expression that happens when you like the way your writing looks. So I think for me, I couldn’t stick with it because now it feels more like a creative arts project than just writing down your deepest secrets and inner thoughts.

I would so much rather sit with my daughter and doodle or sit with her and use these InkJoy Gel Bright pens than to play dolls with her. It’s something that is a lot more fun. And then I just use them for myself when I’m writing thank you notes or stationery or anything like that.

On that note, what’s your note-taking style like? Sometimes it feels like a digital tablet can be more efficient, but there’s also something to be said about old-fashioned pens and paper notepads. Are you a bullet journaler type, or are you into using all of the colorful sticky notes and highlighters?

I do a lot of all of the things you mentioned. Actually, I am such a list maker. I am constantly making lists for both running my household because there’s constantly things that need maintenance and need to be done. I almost always do a handwritten list, a grocery list. And for work, it’s a little bit more electronic because of the different various shows I work on.

Sharpie Creative Markers, Water-Based Acrylic Markers, Brush Tip, Assorted Colors, 12 Count

$20 at Amazon

What can you share about the upcoming projects you’re working on, like Legally Blonde 3 and your basketball comedy series for Netflix? We just spoke to Kate Hudson about what it’s been like working with you and she sang such high praises.

All my projects with blonde heroines! Kate is completely dazzling to me. I had never worked with her beofore I’d met her a couple times in the past 20 years of being in the business, but she’s so dazzling and what’s incredible her is that when we cast her in this role, which is so exciting, we were like, “Oh, I’m just excited because she’s such an amazing performer and a movie star who wants to do a TV series,” which is sort of the goal when you’re a TV creator. You get someone who can bring that kind of star wattage to the show.

But what we also got is someone who’s a real leader on our set, and she’s an executive producer on the show, she takes it incredibly seriously and she’s a leader who sees the show really holistically. And so I knew on some level, obviously I knew she was an executive producer, but it is her value that she’s adding is so much more than the already insane value of her as being the star of the show. I really depend on her for her opinions about storyline. And after every table read, she has extensive great thoughts about everything. We’re still shooting, I think, the second episode. So we are still early on in our process, but I absolutely love working with her and I hope that the show lasts for many years.

She said the same exact thing about you.

I hope that since you’ve spoken to her, it hasn’t revised. She works up long hours and she is just killing it, but it is tough work to be the star of a single-camera comedy and a producer on it. But I’m so happy to hear that.

You are so prolific and you constantly have so many projects in the works at Kaling International. How do you fit “slow” time and creativity as relaxation into your life?

A lot of the times when I’m using particularly the Sharpie Creative Markers, it’s because — so I follow on Instagram several calligraphers and a lot of stationery brands. So for me, what is incredibly relaxing is this beautiful art of penmanship and addressing things to people and sending [something] personal and handwritten. You can hold them in your hand — notes of affection and love, and I’m thinking about you. And to me, I love receiving them and I love giving them. Kate, my assistant, who’s actually on [this call], will laugh because one of the things I first ask when I have an assistant is, what is your penmanship like? And my assistant is in her early twenties, so she’s like, “Penmanship, what are you talking about? That’s like nothing we really were taught that much when we were growing up.”

And I’m so old, I’m twice her age. For me, [cursive] was something I completely loved and fetishized as a kid. And so what’s so great about the Sharpie Creative Markers is they’re so beautiful and the ink is so paint-like that it just makes me want to correspond with people and send them notes. And so it’s almost like, I know I want to send this now, let me think of a nice thing to say to someone. I love putting the stamp on it, I love the ritual of dropping it in the mailbox. So the whole thing is just really joyous for me.

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Mindy Kaling on Her Full-Circle Kelly Kapoor Moment and How Colorful Sharpies Help Her Stay Creative

Danielle Directo-Meston

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