![]() ![]() Especially in this case because there’s nothing else going on in the series. Not that she doesn’t sell jokes or isn’t likeable enough on screen, but that’s not enough. She just doesn’t have the presence, the sparkle, whatever that star quality is to carry a network comedy. But if you don’t have the right actors you’re dead.Īnd my problem with THE MINDY PROJECT is quite simply that Mindy Kaling can’t carry a show. The tone, direction, jokes, stories – all can be altered. As someone who has created and run shows, I know this one truth to be carved in stone: casting is the most important decision you will ever make. ![]() Here’s why – and I don’t come at this as a critic, I come at it as a television writer/producer. Critics either like her and praised it or hate her and panned it. So I was very curious to see her pilot, THE MINDY PROJECT. As an actress, she got her laughs as a supporting character on THE OFFICE. She wrote some terrific OFFICE episodes, her pieces in the New Yorker are funny, and I even enjoyed the play she wrote about Matt Damon & Ben Affleck. ![]() The Newsroom, on the other hand, is like doing a play.I like Mindy Kaling. We riff back and forth, playing with the lines, and we always end up laughing. I watch Mindy and copy her she’s one of the best improvisational actors I’ve ever worked with. The trick is to find what’s funny about the script and then just be truthful. Comedy’s super hard and it doesn’t come as easily to me. Was it difficult to find your comedic voice? Yes! I was also nervous about that. Most of the shows you’ve done in the past were dramas. It’s not The Deer Hunter, but it has a lot of heart. The Mindy Project, for me, combined those two kinds of projects. I’m lucky to have projects like Argo-thank God they’re still around!-but shows like Boardwalk, Breaking Bad, Boss, Modern Family, and The Office are all incredibly special. I grew up worshipping Pacino, Hoffman, De Niro, so when I made the decision to do a Fox sitcom, it was kind of like, What’s happening to the big plan? But this is the golden age of television. John Krasinski set us up, and I thought her script was so funny, without any of the shtick you usually find in comedy pilots. How did you meet Mindy Kaling? The first time we met was actually at Mindy’s house to discuss the show. On the eve of The Mindy Project premiere, Messina spoke to Vogue about balancing all of his latest projects. Indeed, with the 38-year-old father of two heading from one set to another multiple times a week, one only worries that he’ll start to confuse his lines. ![]() Danny Castellano, the brutally honest object of **Mindy Kaling’**s flirtation in her new Fox sitcom The Mindy Project, which debuted to favorable reviews last night, Messina has no shortage of work on his plate. Between playing **Bryan Cranston’**s lackey in **Ben Affleck’**s much-anticipated Argo, **Jane Fonda’**s Oedipally hung-up son Reese Lansing on **Aaron Sorkin’**s The Newsroom, and Dr. His memorable turns in Julie & Julia, Away We Go, and **Woody Allen’**s Vicky Cristina Barcelona established his as a recognizable face, but this fall, we’ll see Messina in a series of roles-in TV, film, comedies and dramas alike-that will finally demonstrate his range. With credits in more than 20 films, Chris Messina is not what you’d call an unknown entity. ![]()
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