“Soup snakes” for life! Mindy Kaling and B.J. Novak have one of the most enviable friendships in Hollywood — and their bond keeps getting stronger through the years.
The comedians met while writing for The Office in the early 2000s, and instantly felt a connection that was mirrored in their characters, Kelly Kapoor and Ryan Howard. “We became friends when we were still super young, and also because we were working sometimes 16-hour days at The Office, and we did it for eight years,” Kaling recalled of her friendship during an appearance at BookCon in 2015. “So it was like going to college twice together.”
While the pair briefly sparked up a romance during the early years of the NBC comedy, they quickly realized they were destined to stay platonic. Despite years of insisting that they’re just friends, they’ve constantly been followed by questions about the status of their relationship.
“Whenever we date anyone else, I think there’s a period where the person is very skeptical of our friendship,” Novak explained during a 2013 interview with Entertainment Weekly. “‘Everyone seems to think you two might be a couple, and I don’t mean to get in the way. Are you sure you’re not dating? Are you sure you’re not going to end up dating?’ It’s such a common thing to have that platonic best friend that becomes a little weird when you start dating someone.”
Though the romantic aspect of their relationship didn’t last very long, the two TV writers have remained nearly inseparable for over a decade. After welcoming her first child, Katherine, in December 2017, Kaling admitted that she understood the confusion surrounding her soulmate-like connection with Novak.
“If I was on the outside looking at it, I would think the same thing,” she told Good Housekeeping in May 2019. “But the truth is that B.J. is so much more like family now than a platonic friend. He’s the godfather to my daughter, he comes over, like, once a week. Sometimes he’ll come over just to hang out with her.”
After playing such major roles in each other’s lives for so long, Kaling can’t picture her future without the Inglourious Basterds actor.
“But when you’ve known someone for as long as I’ve known him — the time that we met each other, which was like 24,” she told the publication. “Now, we’re both almost 40. It’s such a long time that he truly is just a part of my family.”
Scroll down to relive the former costars’ unbreakable bond through the years!
The dynamic duo met while working on NBC's beloved comedy The Office in 2004. Eight years later, Kaling reflected on her nearly instant love for Novak. "It's the kind of friendship you have when you are embedded with someone, that you can only get by putting in that insane amount of time with people," she told Vulture in 2012. Kerry Hayes/Nbc-Tv/Kobal/Shutterstock
As they continued to grow closer, their offscreen relationship started to mirror their characters' relationship. "No one, including us, ever really knew, 'Is this dating? Is this not dating?' We were never really dating, we were never really not dating. We didn't know. No one knew," Novak told Vulture in 2012. The comedic couple dated on and off throughout the early years of The Office, but eventually settled into their super serious friendship. "In real life, I think we just essentially grew up and it became more of a transition," Novak added. Dale Wilcox/BEI/Shutterstock
Kaling and Novak reportedly took the romantic aspect of their relationship out of the picture around 2007, one year before the Late Night actress moved on with writer Benjamin Nugent, from whom she split in 2012. Matt Baron/BEI/Shutterstock
The former flames continued to work side by side on The Office until Kaling's exit from the series in 2012. "The Office was just like college twice," Kaling fondly recalled after leaving the hit show. Matt Baron/BEI/Shutterstock
Kaling's fans were beyond surprised when Novak made an unexpected appearance on his friend's 2011 book tour after publishing her first memoir. He proudly watched from the sidelines as the Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? author signed books and snapped photos with fans. Amanda Schwab/Starpix/Shutterstock
After leaving The Office behind, Kaling wrote, produced and starred in her own series, The Mindy Project. Before making a guest appearance on the FOX show, Novak gushed over his best pal and her accomplishments. "We are pretty inseparable best friends with a lot of chemistry ourselves, and we're not dating," he told Entertainment Weekly in January 2013. "Whenever we date anyone else, I think there's a period where the person is very skeptical of our friendship." Beth Dubber/Fox
The Massachusetts natives teamed up for a fierce night of fashion at the 2013 Met Gala in New York City. While Kaling was getting ready for the big event, Novak provided some hype music in the dressing room. "He's my date tonight," she told Us Weekly at the time. "We were listening to Nirvana and we drank a little." Evan Agostini/Invision/AP/Shutterstock
During a September 2014 interview on The Howard Stern Show, the No Strings Attached actress gave a little insight on her split from the Book With No Pictures author. "It was years and years ago that that breakup happened. I was so sad, not angry, sad," Kaling explained. "I love him, and I think he's a great person, but I'm not holding a candle for B.J." While she admitted she probably would have married Novak when they were dating in their 20s, she teased, "For the record, if anyone asked me to marry them, I would have said yes." Broadimage/Shutterstock
In December 2014, Kaling shared a behind-the-scenes look at a typical text conversation with her "punk ass" BFF. "I'm so proud of you. Look at this great cast with you at the center," Novak wrote, to which the License to Wed actress replied, "Stop being proud of me and get dessert with me." Matt Baron/BEI/Shutterstock
"I will freely admit: My relationship with B.J. Novak is weird as hell," the Never Have I Ever creator joked to InStyle in May 2015. "He is not my boyfriend, but he is not my best friend. I guess you could describe our relationship as a 'romantically charged camaraderie with loud arguments,' but I don’t think Facebook would accept this as a new status." Earlier that year, Kaling told Good Housekeeping that Novak was like family — and forever had her mom's stamp of approval. Invision/AP/Shutterstock
The longtime besties celebrated National Best Friends Day with a sweet selfie in June 2016. One year earlier, the duo reportedly signed a million-dollar book deal to dish on their relationship. "He was the one who came up with the idea of working together on something with me," Kaling told Elle at the time. "We actually don't even know what it's going to be about, but we had one of our first work sessions, and it was great. So we'll see!" Courtesy of Mindy Kaling/Instagram
Three months after giving birth to her daughter, Katherine, Kaling and Novak hit the red carpet together at the 2018 Oscars. While fans wonder who the little one's father is, Kaling isn't interested in addressing rumors. "My feeling is that, until I speak to my daughter about that, I'm not going to talk to anyone else about it," she later told the New York Times. Evan Agostini/Invision/AP/Shutterstock
After Novak gushed over seeing his best friend glowing in promotional posters for A Wrinkle in Time, Kaling was moved to tears. "When I was coming up there was no one who looked like me on TV or film, and it was such a nice thing that he remembered that," she told Hoda Kotb of her friend's sweet message in April 2018. "I was so moved by that. No, it's true — if you dream big, you can get whatever you want." Courtesy of BJ Novak/Instagram
Having weathered more than a decade of questions about the status of her relationship with Novak, the Champions producer admitted she wasn't fazed by the curiosity. "He's the godfather to my daughter. I see him every week," she told CBS News in June 2019. "It isn't the thing that people sometimes think it is. He's really part of my family now, which is great. Even though that's less of a sexy characterization of our relationship, I think it's a deeper and a closer one. We do spend a lot of time together and it’s a great blessing in my life." John Salangsang/Variety/Shutterstock
The Crazy Ex-Girlfriend actor and the Ocean's Eleven star took over the photo booth at the Vanity Fair party after the 2020 Academy Awards. Courtesy of BJ Novak/Instagram
In October 2020, Kaling took part in the viral "How It Started vs. How It's Going" challenge — and received the sweetest comment from her best pal. "So yeah, it's going pretty well. How about you?" the comedian captioned a side by side comparison of herself on The Office and her latest red carpet appearance. Novak replied sweetly, "I like both." imageSPACE/Shutterstock
Novak got fans hot and bothered after he left a flirty comment on Kaling's Instagram post where she showed off her first Vogue cover in December 2020. "Check your DMs," he wrote. "Sliding in the Dms," one follower commented along with the eyes emoji, while another wrote, "They playing with us." Jason Merritt/Radarpics/Shutterstock
In December 2020, Kaling weighed in on a Bachelorette fan’s tweet that compared contestant Ben Smith to Novak’s The Office character, Ryan Howard. “Ben from #BacheloretteABC looks like a more attractive Ryan from the office. @bjnovak @mindykaling,” the user wrote, while the actress responded, “Sorry I’m team temp on this one.” BEI/Matt Baron/Shutterstock; Craig Sjodin/ABC
Kaling told Tory Burch in December 2020 that Novak planned to dress up as Santa Claus for a photo op during the coronavirus pandemic. "This is the whole ruse that we’re going to do, and this might become a tradition," she explained at the time. "Her godfather is B.J. Novak, and he is going to show up and go to our living room, where the tree is, in a Santa costume. Just so you know, we’re Hindu and B.J. is Jewish, so this is, like, cultural appropriation on our part." YouTube
The besties attended the Vanity Fair Oscar Party together in March 2022. Evan Agostini/AP/Shutterstock
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