Not cool! Before becoming a red carpet guru, Mindy Kaling made a fashion gaffe while attending the premiere of “The 40-year-Old Virgin,” but it wasn’t her fault.
In Judd Apatow’s new book “Sick in the Head: More Conversations about Life and Comedy,” the 42-year-old creator of the Mindy Project recalls how in 2005 a former Office employee tricked him into wearing jeans to an event in Los Angeles.
“I didn’t know you had to hire a stylist for a movie premiere,” Kaling told the 54—year-old Apatow in the book, which is a collection of interviews with the director. “I had a sworn enemy in the Office, and I asked this person, “Hey, what are you going to wear to the premiere?” And they said to me, “Oh, just put on jeans and a T-shirt. This is Los Angeles, so no one really dresses for this kind of thing.”
Why not me? the author remembered how he thought: “Okay, cool” and decided to follow the advice of a person. “The 40-year-old Virgin,” directed by Apatow, was Kaling’s first major film role. She played Amy, the ex-girlfriend of Paul Rudd’s character, David.
“I didn’t want to seem thirsty in a dress when everyone was dressed. So, I showed up in a T—shirt and jeans with earrings, and everyone there looked so good,” explained the creator of Sex Lives of College Girls. “They were brought to perfection, and I thought, “I was fucking deceived by this sworn enemy of mine.” It… felt like a missed opportunity, and after that I really became fashionable.”
Kaling didn’t reveal the identity of her former “nemesis” worker, instead she told Apatow why she couldn’t watch herself in the 2005 comedy starring her “Office” co-star Steve Carell.
“It seems like I had a great opportunity and I missed it because I didn’t know what it was like to be on camera. I was shooting for only two days, but I have two really vivid memories of this movie,” the actress told Ocean’s Eight Friends in the book. “First of all, I was sitting across from Paul Rudd, who, by the way, is ten years older than me, but now looks fifteen years younger than me, so I don’t like.”
Kaling described in detail the awkward moment when she was supposed to be talking to 52-year-old Rudd, but instead started looking into the camera. Because of her distracted attention, Apatow had to approach the actress and remind her where to look.
“I didn’t even know I was doing this. I was just so nervous—I couldn’t believe I was chosen to do this with all these funny people,” the “Time Warp” star continued. “The second memory was at Video Village, and it was you, Seth [Rogen], Paul and Elizabeth Banks, and you all had such a great rapport. I didn’t want it to feel like I was floating in the air and trying to laugh, so I sat a couple of rows back and watched you guys. I like this movie, but whenever this scene comes up, I fast-forward it.”
The Never Have I Ever writer improved her fashion game after her jeans flop in 2005. In fact, Kaling is now sharing snaps of her style on social media, including a swimsuit photoshoot in September 2020.
Earlier this week, she went to the Academy Awards ceremony in Hollywood and walked the red carpet of the Vanity Fair Oscar party. “I love movies!” the Massachusetts native wrote on Instagram on Sunday, March 27, presenting her bold yellow and silver dress from Dolce and Gabbana.
Later, she showed off her slender figure in a sexy black dress by Dion Lee and heels by Andrea Wazen. “I promise, this is my last photo with a thirst trap this weekend! Now we can go back to the video where I cook meatloaf or something else,” she wrote on social networks on Tuesday, March 29.
