B.J. Novak's full speech at Mindy Kaling's Hollywood Walk of Fame star unveiling ceremony

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https://www.maximotv.com  Actor and comedian B.J. Novak speech at Mindy Kaling's Hollywood Walk of Fame star unveiling ceremony on Tuesday, February 18, 2025, at 6533 Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, California, USA. This video is available for editorial use in all media and worldwide. To ensure compliance and proper licensing of this video, please contact us. ©MaximoTV  🇺🇸

Transcript

00:00So, please welcome to the stage, Vijay Novak.

00:09Thank you so much, Steve.

00:15How dare you stack my accomplishments after Mindy's like that.

00:21They're not bad in isolation, but my God.

00:25What an honor to be here with so many of Mindy's friends and collaborators, and especially

00:29to directly address the photographers who mean so much to Mindy.

00:33Thank you for being here.

00:35I know how much they mean to both of us.

00:39It is a special feeling to be here as we add the star of Mindy Kaling to the Hollywood

00:45Walk of Fame.

00:48Now, different people have come to know Mindy at different times.

00:54There are the old school fans who say they still remember her from her acclaimed, experimental

00:59off-Broadway debut, Matt and Ben, which she co-wrote and co-starred in as Ben Affleck,

01:07who I believe does not have a star here, and Steve, on behalf of the city of Boston, we'd

01:11like you to look into that.

01:13A play which is still performed across the country 20 years later.

01:18You may have learned who Mindy Kaling was, as I did, from the television show The Office,

01:24where she played the iconic Kelly Kapoor and rose behind the scenes to executive producer

01:29and star writer, who wrote more episodes of the show than anyone else, as she always reminds

01:33me, including my favorite episode, The Injury.

01:38You may have learned her name when she published her first book of personal essays, Heartfelt

01:43and Funny Modern Classics, which sold millions of copies and spawned an entire mini-genre

01:49in publishing, and when I see people come up to her and tell her how much she means

01:53to them, I've noticed the ones who clutch their hearts are often about to talk about

01:58the books.

01:59Or you may have come to know her as the star and creator of the exceptional The Mindy Project,

02:05or from movies, or you may have come to assume that her name is executive producer Mindy

02:09Kaling from seeing those words so often on television shows that are smart, funny, and

02:14popular for all the right reasons.

02:18And at this point, after all these successes, you also just know her from being famous.

02:25And that's the part I want to say a few words about.

02:31We are here at the Walk of Fame.

02:35This is not the Walk of Hard Work.

02:38She's the daughter of immigrants.

02:40She would have been on that since first grade.

02:42This is also not the Walk of Talent.

02:45She'd have been on that since birth.

02:48This is not even the Walk of Success, which half of this audience would be on by now,

02:54some of whom are probably thinking, hmm, Walk of Success, that's not a bad idea.

02:59Brian Lord's going to call Karen Bass about that tomorrow.

03:02No!

03:03We are at the Walk of Fame.

03:06Fame is a unique job.

03:07It exists only in the minds of others.

03:11I'm not talking about the job that made a person famous.

03:14I'm talking about the job of fame itself, which is to be a character in other people's

03:20minds, to be someone they talk about and gossip about, someone they compare their friends

03:24to, someone they want their kids to be like, someone whose fashion choices excite or appal

03:29them, someone whose dating life they have a lot of opinions about.

03:33That's the job of fame.

03:35It's a weird job.

03:36It's a special job.

03:37It can even be an important job.

03:39But it's never the job a person signed up for.

03:43It can't be.

03:45Mindy respects and understands this in a very intuitive way, because in addition to being

03:51a brilliant and wildly successful showrunner, an incredible mother of three, a deep and

03:56caring daughter and friend and mentor to so many, Mindy is also, in her spare time, I

04:01assure you, very superficial.

04:07She likes red carpet drama.

04:09She wants to know what really happened on the junket.

04:12She's actually kind of interested in who wore it better and has some opinions.

04:18She understands what fame means to people, because she's a normal person and it means

04:23something to her.

04:24She knows it can be fun and interesting.

04:27She knows it can be inspiring.

04:29She knows it can be false and unfair and misleading, and she knows it's human nature

04:33to be curious about all of it.

04:35And as a result, even though it's a job you can never fully control, it's a job she handles

04:39beautifully.

04:40She always makes the extra effort to show people her real personality, her real values,

04:45her real standards, her real sense of style, her real sense of humor.

04:50And I've seen what a difference it makes.

04:52It's impossible to leave a restaurant with her without people wanting not just a picture,

04:56but to share a memory or an anecdote about why she matters so much.

05:00Mindy, as I look around and see all these people from your life who have believed in

05:10you from the beginning, I'm just sorry that none of us doubted you, because I know how

05:15much more fun that would make this for you.

05:22But we couldn't help it.

05:24We always knew you'd be famous, but we had no idea how beautifully you'd handle the job.

05:29And so it's high time your name joined those of your heroes right here on Hollywood Boulevard.

05:35Not just names like Mary Tyler Moore and Lucille Ball, but names like H&M and Zara.

05:41I know how much all of it means to you.

05:44Congratulations, my soup snake.

05:46You'd be on the walk of talent if they had one.

05:48You'd be on the walk of friendship.

05:50You'd be on the walk of compassionate parenthood.

05:52But let's face it, all of these would be terrible field trips.

05:56So here you are instead, very deservedly, a person who means so much to so many on the

06:01Hollywood Walk of Fame.

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