Here are some photos of Mindy Kaling and Sandra Bullock on the set of Ocean’s Eight this week. The main cast has been filming in New York for weeks now, and we’re getting glimpses of the characters through their fashion. Helena Bonham Carter is clearly playing an eccentric, Sandra Bullock is the “straight man” and Cate Blanchett is the rocker-type, like she’s a female Mick Jagger (or at least that’s how she’s dressed). Mindy’s character seems to be pretty buttoned-up and professional looking. Rihanna seems like a Rasta-type bohemian.
Anyway, during filming, Mindy started to notice something interesting: the paparazzi only seemed to care about Rihanna. Not only that, but the paparazzi (and everyone else) seemed to think Mindy was Sandra Bullock’s assistant. Mindy stopped by Seth Meyers’ show to talk about it. Incidentally, Seth and Mindy are old friends and you can really feel that they enjoy each other. Here’s the clip.
It’s a cute story and Mindy always talks about this kind of thing – that because she’s not a tall, lithe blonde, she’s mostly ignored by everyone. But I would imagine that it’s even sort of shocking for the true-blue movie stars like Sandra and Cate to deal with the kind of attention Rihanna gets just for walking outside.
Also, as that clip showed and as these photos show, Mindy has done something to her lips. We talked about it a little bit earlier this year, and I recently binge-watched the fourth season of The Mindy Project and OMG, is it noticeable. I believe in “her body, her choice” when it comes to plastic surgery and augmentation, but I also believe that it’s fine to say that it’s disconcerting when you see a celebrity you love with overinflated lips. And she is definitely overinflating.
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.
Okay not trying to sound disrespectful but in those photos and the way she’s dressed up while Sandra is more dressed down, makes me think she’s an assistant.
Agree. I can’t really put my finger on it but Mindy does look like an assistant in the photos. I wonder who wrote she’s an assistant. I thought she was famous enough that a check would bring up Mindy’s name.
If you want to see over-inflated lips, look at Khloe Kardashian. Mindy looks fine.
She doesnt say they wrote she was an assistant. She was giving an anecdote on a talkshow and employed hyperbole for comic effect. She’s laughing the whole time, it’s clearly not intended to be taken seriously. The next time she goes on the show, she’ll talk about how she is only now starting to realise that people take everything she says seriously and then she’ll talk about the article generated by this show appearance. Thats the talkshow ecosystem.
yup
I want Sandra’s coat.
her new face looked so weird in the last TMP season
Omg. I agree. She is starting to morph into Joan Rivers. The nose, fillers, Botox. The limps literally jumped off the screen around season 4 episode 20. I started googling young Mindy. She needs to slow down. I get keeping young, hell I get work done but pace it Monday, pace it.
Very cute story. That’s how an uber successful actor does self-deprecation Jennifer Lawrence.
Lol she isn’t “uber successful”.
Slightly off topic, but related to Mindy Kaling; I watched her show for a couple of years when it was on TV, and it really bugged me how all the female characters just disappeared. In the beginning, she had a very pretty best friend and a very pretty administrator, and they both vanished for no reason. The quirky administrator stayed, and a new ‘Sassy Black Nurse’ was brought in, but they are both very much secondary characters, while the male characters were given storylines and arcs of their own. (Or they were when I watched it, I didn’t follow it once it went online.)
There was one episode where Mindy’s boyfriend wanted to have anal sex, and she was asking her friends for advice, but they were all male friends. She never consulted a female friend at all.
When you know about the Bechdel test, you notice it everywhere, and it really disappointed me that a show with a female star/writer/producer couldn’t manage to pass it. After that, I just found her really annoying… Maybe I’m being really unfair.
A lot of us noticed and I think thats why that show suffered in the ratings and Fox cancelled it. She was conered about an audience member at some comicon type event and she said that Lahiri would be getting new female friends in the Hulu seasons. I watched most of that season and there was a brief friendship flirtation with a woman executive but that didnt last long. A lesbian nurse was added but she feels under written compared to the guys and Mindys chemistry with her is just off (as it is with Tamra!). I stopped watching when I saw the show repeating the same formula that lost audiences (sidelining female characters and obsession with white men). Its a damn shame because it is actually a funny show. Just not worth the constant frustration and sadly, I’m now done with TMP.
YES! I stopped watching before she tried to bandaid the situation apparently. All of the (minor) female characters were idiots, crazy, or both. The show had NO professional women on Mindy Lahiri’s level (which is utterly ridiculous in the OB-GYN profession). And the ever-increasing population of douchey white men characters didn’t interest me at all.
I saw a picture of Mindy posing with her writers once. It was Mindy and about 14 nerdy/douchey white men in their 20s. That was it. All BJ Novak clones. So of course the show is going to feature immature frat boy humor prominently when that’s your entire writing staff.
I stopped watching before it even went to Hulu. I don’t know why but in the last few years I feel like she’s just too much. Too much “look how great I am!” Too much “Look how famous I am and I’m not skinny!”
From what both Fanny and Ramona pointed out, my guess is Mindy didn’t want any other women in the show to shine because that would take away from her Queen Bee status. That’s very weak, and clearly a thing that’s not winning her any new fans, and losing ones she used to have (like me).
The friends didn’t test well in focus groups and the network was concerned the show wasn’t appealing to men enough. That is why they went away this has been discussed in interviews a lot.
I personally didn’t miss the female friends because I don’t find Anna camp talented might have cared had they had a better actress and the show works better when focused on the office.
They also brought on a female boss in season three that was a mentor, and personally I love Tamra.
Let’s get into Rihanna’s role. The sheer stereotype. 10 women and the black woman gets to be the (pot head) rasta, bohemian whatever complete with the dreadlocks Rihanna has never worn before. And you can tell she’s not into it but she takes it off in between filming for her shows. But hey, She’s on a movie with Blanchett and Bullock nd Bonham-Carter and Hathaway
Yeah, but if they would put the dreadlocks on a white actress the black community would have a melt down as well. There is no winning here.
Right. But they also didn’t need to make the black woman the stereotypical weed head, techie who wears baggies and ponchos and uses coconut oil. Okay I’m projecting now but it’s there, I swear. Maybe some other time we can talk about all the other actresses of colour that role could have gone to.
It irks me to this day that Beyoncé remains the black woman to get the most money for a movie and that was the $12million she got for Dreamgirls. Viola Davis, Alfre Woodard should be getting that too and Gabby Union, Tessa Thompson, Lupita should be getting this kinda role they gave Rihanna. Rihanna is a pretty bad actress. Worse than Beyoncé in my opinion but hey, she sells
Honestly, if it’s problematic then just dont put dreadlocks on anybody’s head.
It also kind of seems obvious that she is in dreadlocks to subvert the stereotype as part of a gag. She’ll probably be the groups tech geek or daughter of some billionaire and the audience will be expected to go like “I did not see that coming”. Except we did.
I agree Scar except for the Rihanna sells box office part. She actually doesn’t. Her films dont net anywhere near what you would expect. You may as well go with an actual actress
$10 says she’s the comic relief with the southern blaccent who gets on well with everyone. another $10 says she uses “nigga” a lot
I honestly feel like they are playing everyone’s stereotype in this casting….
Cate as the rocker debby harry-esque blond chick
Sandra and the boring, serious brunette one in the crew
Mindy as the nerdy meek asian chick
Rihanna as the rasta weedie brown woman who’s so bohemian….
can’t win….
It bothered me a little too, but since Rihanna is from the islands and makes no secret about her love of weed, I think the writers played to her strengths.
Im sad she did that to her lips. She can’t even talk right in the clip, it looks like her upper lip can’t flex or something. And the rest of her face seems kind of frozen, too? She did not need to do anything, liked her better before.
Or she could be a genius hacker who happens to have dreads. As much as people complain about stereotypes, if your instinct when seeing Rihanna had dreads was that she must be a Rasta type who smokes pot and uses nigga a lot that’s stereotyping right there.
Yeah I’d like to see a little more info on the character before jumping to conclusions.
Bummed that Mindy messed with her lips, so unnecessary! She’s so pretty.
That was my first instinct too. They were playing against the stereotype that someone with dreads wouldn’t be a techie geek. But I see the other perspective too. Hmmm.
valid
Love her
I love her show.
I’m certainly not ignoring the very valid criticisms but I can’t help it: her show makes me laugh.
I think she’s really talented with a great sense of comedic timing.
Just her Lips?? has her Chin always looked like that?? whatever I wold be more willing to cape a smidge of a little if it was anyone other than Mindy… I just don’t Mindy
omg thank you! people keep pointing to botox and fillers (cheeks and lips) and i totally believe she’s done all that, but the chin job! man it’s so obvious, at least to me, and i find it weird most people and publications haven’t mentioned the work she’s had done.
I would think someone way more eloquent than me could write a very thoughtful piece on how she shells this image or being an “average” female poc in hollywood, yet betrays that by bleaching her skin, getting a chin implant and all those other things mentioned above.
btw i think when it comes to plastic surgery, to each their own, but when it’s someone like Mindy, who’s been such a pioneer of a dark-skinned woman with an “average” build suceeding in hollywood, and it’s not being addressed neither by her or publications… it’s very damaging in a way. i think it betrays the trust she’s built with her audience and admirers.
i don’t know, like does she have such a good relationship with journalists/bloggers/tv hosts and that’s why they dont ever call her out on it?
Her eyes are gorgeous. Actresses / celebrities of the Indian region or descent alwways have breath taking eyes.
Gah…I guess I’m going to have to be the dissenter here and say that I think the work she got done really suits her. I noticed the lip injections between seasons of her show on Hulu and I thought it balanced her face out really well.
I feel guilty saying that because I’m usually the type to push for natural but every now and then an actor gets something done that actually works.
Sorry guys…I’ll go crawl into a hole now.
The issue for me with lip fillers on natural small lipped women is your actual lip isn’t plumped it’s really the fleshy part above the lip that gets filled and then pokes out when you’re turned profile. Natural big lips don’t look like that so it makes extra obvious.
I think she is gorgeous and doesn’t need any of this stuff, and wish she wouldn’t. That said I also don’t work as an actress and constantly have people commenting on my weight, face, hair and clothes online so it’s easy to take that love yourself attitude.
She didn’t need it but if she is happy whatever I guess. That being said I love her show, still haven’t warmed to the southern siblings but love the show, and think she is a great writer.
This was a cute interview.
And I think sandra looks anorexic next to her.
Ive loved Mindy since The Office, but she looks so drastically different, it breaks my heart that shes done very obvious bleaching and her face is so frozen in that one picture she cant even smile, she had the cutest smile ever. Her lips, her cheeks, her chin, its all so unnatural and just off-looking. It is 100% different when its someone like Mindy, youre right Mila, especially because shes never addressed it. And TMP has sucked for a while, its got a couple good writers left so yes it can be funny but the whole show now just feels like an empty little parade to prove her desirability and win the affections of BJ Novak back which is infuriating. I MISS THE OLD MINDY 😭😭😭
it’s really sad. I used to like watching TMP on and off, and i saw an episode on one of these recent seasons and i could not believe it. So drastic! like you said, and yes! her face doesn’t move!! It’s settled a lot more now and i think she chilled out on the top lip injections at least a little bit, but man when it was new, it was really hard watching her trying to smile or show emotion.
After that i googled to see is anyone was talking about it… and nothing. Then i saw the pics of red carpets she went to when she started bleaching her skin and it looked like she was trying to make it seem natural by also lightnening her hair and wearing foundation and other make-up that was like 2 shades lighter than she was.
Honestly it reminded me of when Sammy Sosa was transitioning from dark-skinned to this ghost looking shade of skin that happens with bleaching and i was so concerned for her.
No one should feel bad enough about their skin to do that, i have to admit i’m never gonna accept that when it comes to cosmetic changes. it might be a closed minded or judgmental way of thinking but i just dont know how to accept someone bleaching their ethnicity away. (and yes i know her’s is not as drastic as Sosa’s, but to me even a little is a lil too much).
“And TMP has sucked for a while, its got a couple good writers left so yes it can be funny but the whole show now just feels like an empty little parade to prove her desirability and win the affections of BJ Novak back which is infuriating. I MISS THE OLD MINDY 😭😭😭”–omg this! 100%!