The Office Stars Reunite for Mindy Kaling's Walk of Fame Ceremony - Read BJ Novak's Heartfelt Speech
The Office's most toxic fictional couple reunites as Mindy Kaling receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Mindy Kaling first appeared on the big screen as Amy in Judd Apatow's raunchy adult comedy The 40-Year-Old Virgin, starring Steve Carell. Kaling and Carell then continued to share screen time for several years on NBC’s hit workplace sitcom The Office. In front of the camera, Kaling played customer service representative Kelly Kapoor while she was writing episode scripts behind the scenes. Since then, she’s appeared in dozens of television and movie projects.
Over the last 20 years, Mindy Kaling has emerged as one of the most influential voices in Hollywood. On February 18, 2025, she was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her writing and acting contributions to television. And some of her old The Office co-stars, including Angela Kinsey and B.J. Novak were there to support her.
Mindy Kaling receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
The ceremony began with remarks from Steve Nissen, president of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. A collection of entertainment industry professionals was gathered along the sidewalk to honor Kaling, an Emmy-nominated writer, Tony award-winning producer, New York Times bestselling author, actor, and more.
“I’m Hindu and we practice cremation, which is a beautiful tradition that my ancestors have done for thousands of years and so will I. But also, I’m obsessed with legacy, so sometimes I get disappointed that I won’t have a grave,” Kaling said. “But this, this is so much better than a grave.”
RELATED: What Is Everyone's Job at Dunder Mifflin on The Office?
Over the course of eight seasons on The Office, Kaling penned 23 episode scripts (more than any other writer on the show) and contributed to many more. She created, executive produced, and starred in six seasons of The Mindy Project, and contributed vocal performances for animated stories including DreamWorks favorite Despicable Me.
During the ceremony, the gathered crowd and viewers at home were treated to comments from Kaling’s longtime friend and collaborator B.J. Novak. The duo played toxic on-again, off-again couple Kelly Kapoor and Ryan Howard on The Office, while pulling double duty as writers.
B.J. Novak honors “soup snake” Mindy Kaling at Walk of Fame ceremony
“It is a special feeling to be here as we add the star of Mindy Kaling to the Hollywood Walk of Fame,” Novak began. “We are here at the Walk of Fame. This is not the Walk of Hard Work. Mindy is the daughter of immigrants, she would have been on that since first grade. This is also not the Walk of Talent, she’d have been on that since birth. This is not even the Walk of Success, which half of this audience would be on by now. No, we are at the Walk of Fame.”
Novak went on to discuss the job of fame, of being a character in people’s minds, of being someone they compare themselves and others to, for good or for ill. It’s different from the job of acting or writing or producing, and it’s a job Kaling does well, according to Novak. Of course, in between the compliments and genuine affection, Novak made sure to take a few gentle cracks at Kaling’s expense.
“Mindy respects and understands this in a very intuitive way, because in addition to being a brilliant and wildly successful showrunner, an incredible mother of three, a deep and caring daughter, and friend and mentor to so many, Mindy is also in her spare time, I assure you, very superficial,” Novak said.
“Mindy, as I look around and see all these people from your life,” Novak said, choking up, “who have believed in you from the beginning, I’m just sorry that none of us doubted you. Because I know how much more fun that would make this for you. But we couldn’t help it, we always knew you’d be famous, but we had no idea how beautifully you’d handle the job.”
Novak closed out his remarks with a reference to the show which built their careers and their friendship. “Congratulations my Soup Snake,” Novak said. “You’d be on the Walk of Talent if they had one. You’d be on the Walk of Friendship; you’d be on the Walk of Compassionate Parenthood. But let’s face it, all of these would be terrible field trips. So, here you are instead, very deservedly, a person who means so much to so many, on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
To the unfamiliar, the term “soup snake” might sound like nonsense, but it refers to the The Office Season 5 episode “Company Picnic,” during which Michael Scott (Carell) plans to declare his love for Holly Flax. He made a list of reasons they should be together, saying, “Holly, you and I are soup snakes, and the reason is... because in terms of the soup we like to... that doesn't make any... we're soulmates. Holly and I are soulmates.”
Stream every season of The Office on Peacock, along with the extended SuperFan episodes, right now.
