She was beset by criticism from fans after it was announced that she would voice a South Asian version of Velma Dinkley in an upcoming animated Scooby-Doo spinoff.
But Mindy Kaling admitted she didn't see the complaints coming during an appearance Thursday night on Late Night With Seth Meyers.
The 42-year-old star of The Office said she 'just couldn’t understand' why some people had so much trouble imagining Velma as Indian.
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On defense: Mindy Kaling, 42, defended playing a South Asian version of Scooby-Doo's Velma on an upcoming spinoff during her appearance Thursday on Late Night With Seth Meyers
According to Mindy, the initial reactions to her taking on the role for the Velma-centric series were largely positive.
'When it was announced that I was going to do the voice of Velma, people were very supportive and happy on Twitter, and so I felt great,' she said.
But as with many pop culture properties, it was a select group of niche fans who were most dedicated to keeping the character exactly as she had been portrayed on the original animated series, which debuted in 1969.
'These are really intense fans, you know? Like cartoon, comic book — those are huge fans, 'she continued, adding that fans could be especially resistant to change when it came to 'a legacy show.'
So far, so good: 'When it was announced that I was going to do the voice of Velma, people were very supportive and happy on Twitter, and so I felt great,' she said
Uproar: But diehard fans criticized her when it was revealed Velma would now be Asian. 'There was a lot of "So not Velma" ... "Not the classic Velma that I’m always thinking about,"' she said
Confusingly, the new version of Velma was described as 'East Asian' in June by Tom Ascheim, president of Kids, Young Adults and Classics at Warner Bros., meaning that the character's family would originally come from countries including China, Japan and the Koreas, but Mindy referred to the character as South Asian, which would more closely match her Indian heritage.
The character had previously been portrayed as East Asian in recent adaptations.
The writer and actress recounted the social media backlash.
'There was a lot of "So not Velma" ... "Not the classic Velma that I’m
