The Office ‘Secretary’s Day’ Q&A with Mindy Kaling

What was Steve Carell like as a director? Does the song “Secretary of Love” actually exist? Which unaired scenes simply must make it onto the Season 6 DVD?

Mindy Kaling answers these questions and more about The Office episode Secretary’s Day, which she penned.

And may I say that whenever Mindy gets her Q&A on, it’s always a chattin’ good time. Thank you, Ms. Mindy!

JMJ: Can you tell us more about the scene where Erin throws the cake in Andy’s face? Did she have to do it multiple times?

Mindy: The cake that Ellie threw was the densest cake I’ve ever seen. It was like a brick. The first time she threw it at Ed, it made the loudest “twack” sound. It clearly hurt like hell.

Ed was a good sport. It was so damn funny in the scene. There are a few instances where what airs can never be as actually funny as what we are experiencing the room while it happens. This is one. The other is probably when Michael kissed Oscar in Gay Witch Hunt.

Katrina: Did you actually write the song Secretary of Love for Andy, or did you just stop at the name, knowing he wouldn’t get a chance to sing it?

Mindy: “Secretary of Love” does exist! I wrote lyrics to a song that Ed read in the table draft of the script. It was a wonderfully stupid song.

Basically Andy took all the secretaries in the President’s cabinet and sang about how he’d never want to hook up with them, compared to his own little secretary, Erin.

I was inspired by those kind of old-timey songs where guys were constantly listing things, like Ricky’s Nelson’s “Travelin’ Man,” or “California Girls.”

Megan S: What was it like having Steve as a director?

Mindy: When Steve directs, you’re psyched. He has great taste, and the casts and crew respect him so much, so things move very smoothly.

It was pretty cute to see him watching scenes on the monitor, and then he’d have to take off his headset quickly for his entrance as Michael into the scene.

Also, as a director, he’s in costume with hair and makeup done, so it looks like this kind of handsome fancy guy is directing your episode.

I looked nicer than usual this week. Everyone noticed. My outfits were kind of the big story of the week.

Mitch R: What was the inspiration behind the breast pump scene between Pam and Meredith?

Mindy: I cannot claim credit for this horrifying and very popular joke. Charlie Grandy wrote the breast pump Meredith joke. Whatta guy.

ASFan: Whose Kevin impression is the best?

Mindy: Rainn and John tie for the best Kevin impressions.

John’s is great because his energy is so thrilled — did you see how he couldn’t stop smiling while he did it?

Rainn’s is hilarious because it is chillingly accurate.

In the writers room, we often do little “readings” during the rewrite, and everyone has gotten a chance to read as Kevin. Besides Stanley, I don’t think there’s a more fun person to do an impression of.

Even the bad ones (ahem, Danny) are fun to hear. Danny is an excellent writer and a good friend, but, terrible at accents and impressions.