00:00So, please welcome to the stage, Vijay Novak.
00:09Thank you so much, Steve.
00:15How dare you stack my accomplishments after Mindy's like that.
00:21They're not bad in isolation, but my God.
00:25What an honor to be here with so many of Mindy's friends and collaborators, and especially
00:29to directly address the photographers who mean so much to Mindy.
00:33Thank you for being here.
00:35I know how much they mean to both of us.
00:39It is a special feeling to be here as we add the star of Mindy Kaling to the Hollywood
00:45Walk of Fame.
00:48Now, different people have come to know Mindy at different times.
00:54There are the old school fans who say they still remember her from her acclaimed, experimental
00:59off-Broadway debut, Matt and Ben, which she co-wrote and co-starred in as Ben Affleck,
01:07who I believe does not have a star here, and Steve, on behalf of the city of Boston, we'd
01:11like you to look into that.
01:13A play which is still performed across the country 20 years later.
01:18You may have learned who Mindy Kaling was, as I did, from the television show The Office,
01:24where she played the iconic Kelly Kapoor and rose behind the scenes to executive producer
01:29and star writer, who wrote more episodes of the show than anyone else, as she always reminds
01:33me, including my favorite episode, The Injury.
01:38You may have learned her name when she published her first book of personal essays, Heartfelt
01:43and Funny Modern Classics, which sold millions of copies and spawned an entire mini-genre
01:49in publishing, and when I see people come up to her and tell her how much she means
01:53to them, I've noticed the ones who clutch their hearts are often about to talk about
01:58the books.
01:59Or you may have come to know her as the star and creator of the exceptional The Mindy Project,
02:05or from movies, or you may have come to assume that her name is executive producer Mindy
02:09Kaling from seeing those words so often on television shows that are smart, funny, and
02:14popular for all the right reasons.
02:18And at this point, after all these successes, you also just know her from being famous.
02:25And that's the part I want to say a few words about.
02:31We are here at the Walk of Fame.
02:35This is not the Walk of Hard Work.
02:38She's the daughter of immigrants.
02:40She would have been on that since first grade.
02:42This is also not the Walk of Talent.
02:45She'd have been on that since birth.
02:48This is not even the Walk of Success, which half of this audience would be on by now,
02:54some of whom are probably thinking, hmm, Walk of Success, that's not a bad idea.
02:59Brian Lord's going to call Karen Bass about that tomorrow.
03:02No!
03:03We are at the Walk of Fame.
03:06Fame is a unique job.
03:07It exists only in the minds of others.
03:11I'm not talking about the job that made a person famous.
03:14I'm talking about the job of fame itself, which is to be a character in other people's
03:20minds, to be someone they talk about and gossip about, someone they compare their friends
03:24to, someone they want their kids to be like, someone whose fashion choices excite or appal
03:29them, someone whose dating life they have a lot of opinions about.
03:33That's the job of fame.
03:35It's a weird job.
03:36It's a special job.
03:37It can even be an important job.
03:39But it's never the job a person signed up for.
03:43It can't be.
03:45Mindy respects and understands this in a very intuitive way, because in addition to being
03:51a brilliant and wildly successful showrunner, an incredible mother of three, a deep and
03:56caring daughter and friend and mentor to so many, Mindy is also, in her spare time, I
04:01assure you, very superficial.
04:07She likes red carpet drama.
04:09She wants to know what really happened on the junket.
04:12She's actually kind of interested in who wore it better and has some opinions.
04:18She understands what fame means to people, because she's a normal person and it means
04:23something to her.
04:24She knows it can be fun and interesting.
04:27She knows it can be inspiring.
04:29She knows it can be false and unfair and misleading, and she knows it's human nature
04:33to be curious about all of it.
04:35And as a result, even though it's a job you can never fully control, it's a job she handles
04:39beautifully.
04:40She always makes the extra effort to show people her real personality, her real values,
04:45her real standards, her real sense of style, her real sense of humor.
04:50And I've seen what a difference it makes.
04:52It's impossible to leave a restaurant with her without people wanting not just a picture,
04:56but to share a memory or an anecdote about why she matters so much.
05:00Mindy, as I look around and see all these people from your life who have believed in
05:10you from the beginning, I'm just sorry that none of us doubted you, because I know how
05:15much more fun that would make this for you.
05:22But we couldn't help it.
05:24We always knew you'd be famous, but we had no idea how beautifully you'd handle the job.
05:29And so it's high time your name joined those of your heroes right here on Hollywood Boulevard.
05:35Not just names like Mary Tyler Moore and Lucille Ball, but names like H&M and Zara.
05:41I know how much all of it means to you.
05:44Congratulations, my soup snake.
05:46You'd be on the walk of talent if they had one.
05:48You'd be on the walk of friendship.
05:50You'd be on the walk of compassionate parenthood.
05:52But let's face it, all of these would be terrible field trips.
05:56So here you are instead, very deservedly, a person who means so much to so many on the
06:01Hollywood Walk of Fame.
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