One of Mindy Kaling’s first interactions with two of her comedic heroes has stuck with her for decades.
“The Office” alum joined Amy Poehler on her podcast “Good Hang” on Tuesday, and about 45 minutes into the episode, Kaling recalled the first time she met Poehler and her frequent collaborator and friend, Tina Fey.
Mindy Kaling arrives at a gala in May.
Kaling said she was guest writing on an episode of “Saturday Night Live” in 2005 (when Fey and Poehler were still in the cast), and the three shared an exchange that had quite the impact on “The Mindy Project” star.
“I remember this story, and I’m not proud of it,” Kaling said, stressing how much she admired the two women at the time. “We were somewhere, and I was like, ‘I just want to lose 30 pounds,’ and the two of you stopped and were like, ‘What? That’s too much weight.’”
Kaling continued, “I remember I was so happy for like three weeks after. I was like, ‘Wow, Amy and Tina don’t think I’m a fat load.’ I was so happy.”
Tina Fey (left) and Amy Poehler arrive at the 72nd annual Golden Globe Awards in 2015.
“No, no Mindy, never,” Poehler sweetly said in response to Kaling’s “fat load” jab at herself.
The “Never Have I Ever” creator went on to emphasize how this response from Fey and Poehler felt shockingly refreshing at a time when it was socially acceptable to openly criticize a woman’s appearance and link it to her worth.
“Even in the aughts, you guys were like, ‘What? Are you crazy?’” Kaling recalled. “And I always think, ‘Why would I have told that to them?’ That’s so weird.”
Poehler responded by assuring Kaling that it wasn’t that weird at all.
“Well, I would say that — if we were to get real — that’s how women talk to each other,” Poehler said.
Kaling and Poehler in the audience at the 64th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2012.
“Just like everybody else, we’re constantly trying to figure out everybody’s relationship to being on camera,” Poehler continued. “And I do think that, for better or for worse, what women do for each other and to each other is they talk about their bodies to each other.”
The “Parks and Recreation” star added later in the episode that she makes it a point not to “talk about people’s bodies.”
“Because it’s like, people’s bodies are their own business,” Poehler said.
Kaling ultimately said the reason why she thinks it had such an impact on her was that not only did she respect Poehler and Fey, but they so openly validated an issue that plagues many people.
“I think to be able to be with two of my heroes and have them acknowledge — because you could have easily been like, ‘We don’t ever think about it. We’re naturally thin,’” Kaling said. “I think really, it was a kindness for you to acknowledge.”
The three successful female comedians do appear to have mutual respect for one another. In 2015, Fey interviewed Kaling at New York’s 92Y to promote Kaling’s memoir, “Why Not Me?” That same year, Kaling traveled with Poehler to the Cannes Film Festival to promote their Pixar film, “Inside Out.”
Poehler and Kaling actually discussed this trip earlier in the podcast episode, and during the conversation the two touched on why so many women — especially in the entertainment industry — may have insecurities regarding their appearance.
Phyllis Smith, Poehler and Kaling pose for photographers at the Cannes Film Festival in 2015.
Although both women said the experience was “glamorous,” they also agreed that French journalists were much more blunt about criticizing their bodies.
“‘Why are you — why are you so fat?’” Kaling, using a French accent, recalled being asked.
“‘You, you are smiling, but your face is not so nice to look at,’” Poehler piggybacked, also using a French accent and poking fun at the “ruder” questions French journalists asked them at the time. “‘If your face is not so nice, why do you think people like to look at it?’”