The Office wedding Q&A with Mindy Kaling

Q. The idea to have Michael tie cans to his own car rather than to the getaway car was funny, but to have those cans be full of soda and then burst as he drove away was genius. Tell us how that idea evolved and when you knew you had it. | Stile4aly

Mindy: Thanks. It’s hard to describe how an idea “evolves” when you’re thinking of it. It was visually funny to me, seeing the cans explode, and I just wrote that down.

I remember thinking it was funniest if the cans that burst were full of beans — cans of beans are the funniest kinds of canned food, right?

Q. I love Dwight The Playa! (We saw it before in Launch Party.) Is that inspired at all by shows like The Pick-Up Artist? | kip

Mindy: I’ve always loved that Dwight does well with women.

He’s not this stereotypical “nerd” guy, he’s a farmer and kind of strapping and tall. I had him hook-up with another girl in Night Out. It makes sense to me.

Q. Dwight sportin’ a sweet Three Wolf Moon shirt was awesome. What was the inspiration for that? | what’s the dealio?

Mindy: B.J., who is always tapped in to cool viral things and stuff, showed me the Amazon Three Wolf Moon shirt comment phenomenon. I just loved it.

The more I find out that people are watching the Office solely on Hulu or iTunes, the more I want to put relevant internet stuff on it.

People get so psyched when we do Internet references, it’s one big private joke we all are in on, and keeps the show fresh.

Q. Was it in the script that Dwight kicks the bridesmaid in the face or was that decided on later? | Vicki

Mindy: It was scripted. It might be my favorite moment in the episode, up there with Michael waking up with a start while driving.

Q. Was the misspelling of “Halpert” intentional on the display in the hotel that indicated the Beesley and “Halpret” wedding party? | Nate

Mindy: Yes, it was intentional. This was Greg’s idea, just to show that wedding was a little chintzy and not going perfect. LAYERS, YOU GUYS, LAYERS.

It reminds me of the opening exterior shot in Fawlty Towers where the hotel was always misspelled.

Q. I feel like an episode like this would have a ton of scenes where people constantly break. Which was the hardest scene to get through without anyone laughing? | Samuel L Chang

Mindy: It is always a joy when I can rat out other actors breaking, because I break so much, it’s ridiculous.

The scene, post Jim’s toast/revelation, where Jim and Michael talk about how being a manager makes you say stupid things, made John break every time.

There was something about Michael’s excitement for NOT having been the one who ruined it, which made John lose it.

I think you can kind of see him struggling to keep from laughing if you watch it again.

Q. Did you have to practice the dancing scene, or did everyone just go out and improv dance moves? | Vidsub

Mindy: All the dances were choreographed, by the same choreographer who taught me and Ed Helms our smokin’ moves for Cafe Disco.

We met in 45-minute chunks and learned the dances.

Interestingly, BJ and I, who had a very easy dance, practiced like CRAZY to get that very poorly-executed sprinkler move down. BJ got a tiny bit stressed about it, it was adorable.

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36 comments

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1. 
   36. Julie  Sun. Oct. 18, 2009 | 9:28pm

   I can’t believe the captain isn’t an actor. He was one of those small part/steals the scene people for me. I actually tried to look him up on the internet to see what else he’d been in, I was so amazed by him.

2. 
   35. ChanChan  Sat. Oct. 17, 2009 | 7:59am

   Mindy and BJ are so absolutely adorable. I wonder if it affects their friendship that they have to make out all the time… Because, they DO write the show, so they must plan it. Maybe they are secretly going out? I would love that. It would be the cutest relationship on the office right after JAM.

3. 
   34. Lou  Fri. Oct. 16, 2009 | 9:20am

   FYI – there are actually four Ephron sisters (Nora, Delia, Amy & Hallie) – all of whom write! I heard Hallie speak about mysteries and she’s great:

   Link

4. 
   33. Sara Stricherz  Thu. Oct. 15, 2009 | 3:22pm

   I love Mindy Kaling, she is so amazing. I think she (and her character Kelly) are hilarious and I relate to so much that she says and her pop culture references.

   I loved the info as well, and her humor about Jenna being mean so they loved her instead, and Paul never reading this. Ha ha! Thanks Mindy!

5. 
   32. TobyFan  Thu. Oct. 15, 2009 | 12:31pm

   I was so glad she talked about “the sprinkler” – it was my favourite of all the dances, so you can tell BJ he did a great job!

6. 
   31. Jay  Thu. Oct. 15, 2009 | 12:03pm

   @ 27:

   No, I love Ryan and Kelly together too and loved the deleted scene with them flirting in the church. And when I saw them dancing in Andy’s room during his party I was like, “Yes! Another office hookup!” :)

   If (hypothetically) they were dating in real life, I would be so excited for them since they are a great team!

7. 
   30. Missy  Thu. Oct. 15, 2009 | 9:21am

   Awesome – Mindy answered my question . . . last! Thanks Mindy and Randy!! Great episode, looking forward to more . . .

8. 
   29. JMJ  Thu. Oct. 15, 2009 | 5:23am

   I love these Q&A’s especially Mindy’s.

9. 
   28. Koos  Thu. Oct. 15, 2009 | 2:04am

   Q&As are always special treat–thanks Mindy and tanster! How cool is it that Mindy casually texts Greg about things like his thoughts on a Jam wedding location?

10. 
    27. Tina  Wed. Oct. 14, 2009 | 10:13pm

    I can’t be the only one who grins like an idiot whenever Mindy talks about her friendship with B.J….

11. 
    26. receptionitis66  Wed. Oct. 14, 2009 | 8:18pm

    This is great! There hasn’t been a Q and A in a while and I’m glad it was for this episode. I never got to ask my question, though; I wonder if they asked the couple who did the original “forever” dance down the aisle if they could copy that?

12. 
    25. Vidsub  Wed. Oct. 14, 2009 | 6:49pm

    Thanks for the Q and A Mindy, and also for answering my question, haha!

13. 
    24. Brigette  Wed. Oct. 14, 2009 | 6:43pm

    Ahhh! I want more! I think this is probably one of the best Q & A’s EVER! Thanks Mindy!!!

14. 
    23. HarveyTheComputer  Wed. Oct. 14, 2009 | 6:08pm

    Thanks Mindy for this Q&A and also for this WONDERFUL episode. My favorite ever! A classic, hilarious and sweet episode. Dwight kicking the bridemaid and the boat wedding were my favorite parts.
    Very niiiiiice. Borat.

15. 
    22. Christy  Wed. Oct. 14, 2009 | 5:49pm

    AWESOME. Thank you so much tanster and Mindy! That was so much fun to read. How incredibly generous of Mindy to take out time to answer so many questions! I can’t wait to watch the episode again with all of that behind-the-scenes fun in mind. :)

16. 
    21. Kalie  Wed. Oct. 14, 2009 | 5:34pm

    I watched the episode again just to catch all the little things Mindy was talking about. I tried to see if I could catch John Krasinski breaking when he was talking to Michael, but I didn’t have much luck. Did anyone else see it? On another note, I still love the episode as much as I did the first time. It’s truly wonderful :)

    Thank you Mindy and Tanster for being so delightfully good to us fans!

17. 
    20. littlekidlover  Wed. Oct. 14, 2009 | 5:20pm

    Thanks tanster and Mindy! It was a great episode…thanks for answering some questions (:

18. 
    19. VéroniQC  Wed. Oct. 14, 2009 | 4:51pm

    I love Q&As! Now I have to go tell it all to my husband…! Thank you Mindy, you’re the best!

19. 
    18. PizzaByAlfredo  Wed. Oct. 14, 2009 | 4:19pm

    Mindy, I just adore the episodes that you write! A tip of the hat to your vomit jokes!

20. 
    17. Claire  Wed. Oct. 14, 2009 | 3:34pm

    Well, I guess I’ll have to watch the episode one more time. It’s hard being such a fan. :)
    Thanks so much for all the info!!

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