Mindy Kaling Was Known For Telling Outrageous Lies On The Set Of The Office

Kelly Kapoor, played by Mindy Kaling, is one of the most chaotic characters on "The Office" — which is really saying something. From pretending to be pregnant to get Ryan's (B.J. Novak) attention to eventually running away with him at the end of the show, Kelly's mania is typically based around Ryan and their on-again, off-again, completely dysfunctional relationship. With that in mind, it's fitting that Novak was the one to reveal that Kaling was just as messy as her on-screen counterpart on the set of "The Office."

During Conan O'Brien's podcast, "Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend," O'Brien — who previously worked with Kaling when she was an intern on his original late-night show — asked his guest Novak about a "thing" Kaling often does that O'Brien described as "near and dear to [his] heart: making up lies that don't really exist for any reason. Just making up a very random lie. And it's kind of a way of pranking people, but it's something that's always fascinated me." O'Brien said he loves doing this as well, but then asked for examples. "Yeah, well, she — now and then, she hasn't done it in a while, I hope..." Novak started before O'Brien interrupted: "She told me she really needed money...and I gave her a hundred thousand dollars." While this was obviously a joke, Novak shared one real example of a random lie Kaling told to prank him.

In addition to starring in "The Office," Novak and Kaling were also writers on the show. In his conversation with O'Brien, Novak recalled one bizarre fib Kaling told him behind the scenes. 

"She once, on 'The Office,' told me that there was a female director that had done an episode of one of my scripts, and I didn't especially like how the direction went... But Mindy said that she had used to date Greg [Daniels, the showrunner]." Novak went on to say that the director was a lot older than Daniels, but because Novak was in his twenties, everybody just looked the same age to him at the time.

Novak just kept going with this knowledge — which led to a totally awkward interaction between him and Daniels. "So then Greg was like, 'what'd you think of her as a director?' And I was like, 'yeah, she was good.'" This immediately bit Novak in the ass, because production hired her back."Later I told him, 'you used to date her, right?' And he was like, 'what are you talking about?'"

Novak goes on to say that Kaling didn't make it public that she'd tricked him — she just kept it as a private joke between them, which is maybe even weirder. "I have to admire the comedian that doesn't need an audience," Novak said. You can catch Kelly and Ryan's best moments together on "The Office," which is currently streaming on Peacock.