Mindy Kaling on Her Love Life: "I Don't Need Marriage"

Plus, find out what she has to say about ex-boyfriend B.J. Novak

By Zach Johnson Jan 16, 2015 2:25 PMTags
Mindy Kaling, Good HousekeepingGood Housekeeping/Peggy Sirota

Mindy Kaling is in a relationship...with herself.

Via her critically acclaimed Fox comedy The Mindy Project, the 35-year-old actress has romanced Mark Duplass, Bill Hader, Ed Helms, Anders Holm, Glenn Howerton, Chris Messina, Seth Meyers, Timothy Olypant and Seth Rogen, to name a few. In real life, however, Kaling's dating life isn't nearly as exciting as that of her TV alter-ego, Dr. Mindy Lahiri. Of course, that doesn't mean she hasn't fantasized about her dream man. "If I could relive the first three months of courtship over and over for the rest of my life, I would," the series' creator and executive producer says in Good Housekeeping's February 2015 issue. "Especially in winter. Who doesn't like a nice heavy seven-course meal with lots of alcohol, then making out when you're a little tipsy and taking a cab home to fall asleep in the clothes you wore on the date?"

"Wait. Actually that was, like, my whole 20s," Kaling admits. "And it was very fun."

Kaling's most famous ex-boyfriend is B.J. Novak, her best friend and former co-star on The Office. "I'm definitely not in the friends-with-my-exes camp," she says. "But B.J. has the stamp for life as a friend."

"My mom loved him," she adds. "He feels like family."

Good Housekeeping/Peggy Sirota

At one point, Kaling would have married Novak—if he had only proposed. "When I was younger, I wanted so badly to be married and have kids in a rush. I loved my parents' relationship. The way my father was with my mother when she was dying was so moving. It was such devotion. I don't know that that will happen for me, but I like it," she says. Now that she's older, Kaling says, "I don't need marriage. I don't need anyone to take care of all my needs and desires. I can take care of them myself now."

Since she's currently single, who would she like to spend Valentine's Day with this year? "Obviously Idris Elba, then people who just make me laugh like Amy Poehler, Kristen Wiig, Seth Rogen," Kaling imagines.

Good Housekeeping's February 2015 issue is on newsstands Jan. 20.