Mindy Kaling has some advice for cast of new The Office: 'I ruined so many takes'

Mindy Kaling, one of the stars of The Office, found some of the show's scenes as hilarious as audiences.

On Wednesday, Kaling, who also was one of the show's writers and producers, was asked to give her best advice to the people behind the just-announced spin-off. Her answer was simple: "Try not to laugh."

The Late Night star explained that having the costars that she did only made the problem worse.

"I ruined so many takes just because I'd be, like, laughing at Rainn Wilson and Steve Carrell," she said on SiriusXM's The Morning Mash Up. "I was not professional."

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Kaling's character, Kelly Kapoor, was featured on all nine seasons of the NBC mockumentary. Like most residents of the Scranton, Pennsylvania-based workplace, Kelly did not enjoy life at the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. But unlike the others, with the notable exception of Carrell's Michael Scott, she spent most of her time fawning over or arguing with intern-turned-executive Ryan Howard. He was played by Kaling's real-life close friend and ex, B.J. Novak.

"I was supposed to be horrified all the time, but really it just made me laugh," said Kaling, who seriously asked, "How dare you?"

"In fact, I think I might be laughing on camera," she continued. "I'm assuming that cast is gonna be as funny as the one we had, and there's so many great brains behind it, so that would be my thing is just learn not to break on camera."

Though the final new episode aired in 2013, The Office continues to bring in big ratings in reruns. It wasn't a surprise when Peacock announced this month that Greg Daniels, who brought the British sitcom to U.S. audiences, had teamed with Michael Koman (Nathan for You) for a new version of it. In it, the same production crew that appeared in The Office will be documenting the goings-on at "a dying historic Midwestern newspaper and the publisher trying to revive it with volunteer reporters," according to the streamer's official description. Production is expected to begin in July.

Daniels will be back for the spin-off, and Kaling approves: "They’re in such good hands."

Someone who won't be returning is Carrell.

"I will be watching but I will not be showing up," he told The Hollywood Reporter this week. "It's just a new thing and there's really no reason for my character [Michael Scott] to show up in something like that. But I'm excited about it, it sounds like a great conceit. I love the idea — I guess it's set in a family newspaper company, and I worked with Domhnall Gleeson, who is one of the leads. I did The Patient with him, and he's an excellent actor and a super nice guy, so I think it'll be great."

In addition to Gleeson, the new show will feature Sabrina Impacciatore from The White Lotus.