Mindy Kaling loves movies, but they haven't always loved her back. Kaling explained at a recent press event in Los Angeles, as per HelloGiggles, that A Wrinkle In Time marks the first time love has felt "requited."
"I loved science fiction and fantasy growing up, but it was a genre that largely did not love me back," she explained. "I never saw any representation of a dark skinned, Indian woman in anything I saw."
A Wrinkle in Time, directed by Ava DuVernay, has a bonkers impressive cast. DuVernay herself is an A-list director, and the movie boasts the presence of Reese Witherspoon, Oprah Winfrey, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw.
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Kaling added that comedy — her forte, as she got her start on NBC's The Office — was a very welcoming field. But green screens, stunts, and special effects were never things she'd thought she would do.
"I finally feel welcomed with open arms [in a genre movie]," she said. "I think that there could be a miniature version of me [watching], and be excited by it. I think that's insane."
In A Wrinkle In Time, Kaling plays Mrs. Which, one of three celestial beings who materialize at the home of Meg and Charles Wallace with a special mission in mind. The mission involves traveling across the universe — yes, the universe — via wrinkles in time known as "tesseracts." As Mrs. Which, Kaling is far from the ordinary looks her Office character wore. She has an impressively braided 'do worthy of Daenerys Targaryen.
Speaking to TIME, DuVernay explained that when it came to casting the movie, she wanted strong personas, not just actors. In fact, Kaling was the first actress locked down by the director.
"I wasn’t just casting for actresses. I was casting for leaders — icons," she said. A Wrinkle in Time doesn't just love Kaling — it's going to cement her place as a Hollywood icon.
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