B.J. Novak breaks down the strange lie Mindy Kaling told him on the set of 'The Office'

"It was just a private joke, which is even more pure."
 By 
Sam Haysom
 on 
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We know by now that behind the scenes of The Office there was all sorts of drama going on, from life-threatening bus rides to storylines that actors fought to get cut.

But it turns out, in amongst all that, there was also Mindy Kaling making up random lies for fun.

Appearing on the Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend podcast, writer and actor B.J. Novak described how his co-star once pranked him by making up a lie about one of their episode directors.

"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, not a huge deal, but Mindy said that she used to date Greg [Daniels] — the director used to date Greg," Novak explains in the clip above.

"Then Greg was like, 'What you think of her, as a director?' And I was like, 'Yeah, she was good!' So we hired her back. But I should have said, like, 'Not my favourite director.' And later I told him, like, 'You used to date her, right?' And he was like, 'What are you talking about?'

"She never acted like she got me, it was just a private joke, which is even more pure," Novak continues. "I have to admire the comedian that doesn't need an audience, just her and God."

Topics The Office

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Sam Haysom

Sam Haysom is the Deputy UK Editor for Mashable. He covers entertainment and online culture, and writes horror fiction in his spare time.


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