Mindy Kaling is all in on gummy vitamins…and she thinks her “The Office” character Kelly Kapoor would be too.
Kaling, known for hit television shows like “The Mindy Project” and “Never Have I Ever,” teamed up with supplement company NatureMade, owned by Pharmavite, to celebrate the opening of its New York City Wellness Experience pop-up at Tenspace in SoHo. The event included mocktails inspired by Nature Made’s gummy vitamins and curated by Kaling, branded merchandise and conversations with Kaling, Pharmavite chief growth officer Rhonda Hoffman and registered dietitian Valerie Agyeman. The pop-up, which includes products, merchandise and a variety of wellness-focused activations, will be open to the public until December.
Rhonda Hoffman and Mindy Kaling
Courtesy of Michael Simon on behalf of Nature Made
Ahead of the opening event, Kaling sat down with WWD to discuss her partnership with Nature Made, her wellness must-haves and which of her characters would be the most interested in gummy vitamins.
WWD: How did you get involved with Nature Made?
Mindy Kaling: I have been on a fitness kick. I’m 46 now. I’m trying to build more muscle, and because of that, I’ve been getting these unrelenting cramps in my feet, fingers and calves. I started taking the magnesium gummies, and it just helps. My kids take the vitamin C. I take the vitamin C and collagen gummies. I’m that person where if you can give it to me in a gummy form, I’ll take it. A lot of people, moms especially, we have our list of different supplements that we have to take during the day, and it gets incredibly monotonous. If they can be delicious and easy to take, then [I’ll do it]. Nature Made is the only company that’s doing that where I actually like to taste them.
WWD: How has being a mother changed your approach to wellness?
M.K.: It’s not that I didn’t care beforehand, but I think before I had kids, I would be like, “Life is a pendulum. Sometimes we are really unhealthy, and then sometimes we’re super healthy.” I was like, “That’s part of my charm.” What I thought was just the ricochet of no sleep, not taking care of myself as part of being a hard worker and being so committed to this lifestyle I chose in L.A. of being the star of a show and everything, once I had my kids, the idea that any of that was charming, like there is no ricochet. I am on it [now.] I’m on it 24/7, especially since I’m a single mom. I’ve got to live for these kids, and so I’m so committed to making, particularly, the next 20 years of my life be my healthiest. I am fully the L.A. mom that’s like, “We’re only shopping organic.”
WWD: Do you have any other wellness nonnegotiables?
M.K.: I used to love the idea, as a comedy writer, that you could stay up until 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning, figuring out a comedy thing. [When] I was at “The Office,” we would have these late nights, and I always relish them, but there’s a reason I relished them when I was in my 20s and didn’t have kids and didn’t have other commitments. I just only lived to work. I don’t do that anymore. Even now, I’m shooting a new show in New York, actually, and we have a couple “Fraturdays” where we shoot till 3 o’clock in the morning, and I’m like, “We will only do that twice.” I truly prioritize sleep in a major way that I used to not.
Mindy Kaling celebrating the Nature Made Wellness Experience pop up in NYC.
Photo Credit: Michael Simon/Getty Images for Nature Made
WWD: Have you picked up any beauty or wellness tricks while on set?
M.K.: Because I have to be there so early in the morning, I’m an early riser anyway with having kids, but this is a whole other level. I have started now doing that thing that I see a lot of famous women doing with the lemon water first thing in the morning. It really is different than water, the room temperature water with the lemon slice squeezed into it. It’s a game changer for metabolism and getting your whole system started. I don’t know why the introduction of the lemon to the water changes everything for me, but it does. That’s something I’ve been doing very religiously for these early, early mornings.
WWD: Are there any wellness trends you hate and wish would go away?
M.K.: I wouldn’t say that I don’t like it. If it does stuff for other people, I’m very happy. I feel like when I did a sound bath, it didn’t do as much for me as I thought it was going to. I had too high hopes for the sound bath. I thought I was going to have the therapeutic results of a massage, but it’s not that.
WWD: You played an OB-GYN on your show “The Mindy Project.” Did you pick up medical terms or tips that stick out to you still?
M.K.: My character [Mindy Lahiri] went into labor. I had to go into labor [on the show] before me, Mindy Kaling did. I remember we had a technician there who was focused on breathing and the positions of my legs. I remember [being] like, “Oh, this is interesting,” and then when I was in labor with my daughters, like, “Oh, I’ve already been through this.” My character gave birth on the subway [though].
WWD: Which of your characters would be most into your personal wellness routine?
M.K.: There’s no character more than Kelly Kapoor who would love one of these gummies. She lived on Sour Patch Kids. Her having a gummy probiotic or a Multi + Omega-3, like she would die for these. Honestly, all my characters [would].
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