Mindy Kaling addressed some of the criticism about her character on The Mindy Project only dating white men.

In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, the actress, who also created and writes for The Mindy Project, said that she doesn't understand the criticism of her character's dating life.

"Do people really wonder on other shows if female leads are dating multicultural people" Kaling asked rhetorically. "Like I owe it to every race and minority and beleaguered person. I have to become the United Nations of shows?"

Kaling's character, Dr. Mindy Lahiri, dated characters played by white male actors Mark Duplass, B.J. Novak, Seth Meyers and Seth Rogen, among others, in the first season of the show. She said that she's not that concerned about the pattern.

"You can't please everyone," she concluded.

The actress also said that she gets tired of people praising her just because she's successful as a non-white, curvy woman.

"Most of the time when people want to talk to me about my job it's about three things: not skinny, multi-cultural, woman who is female," she explained. "I don't want to minimize that it's a source of inspiration to young people, but I was just born in this skin, so it's not something I think about while I'm writing."

At the Television Critics Association press tour panel for The Mindy Project Wednesday, Kaling addressed her character's selfishness as something that viewers didn't want to see.

She explained that when dealing with female characters, there are certain things that people just don't like. She saidshe hadn't anticipated the expectation viewers had for her character to feel "protected" rather than an independent woman.

Regardless, she said that she would adjusting her character as season 2 begins this fall, announcing that she would try to make her do more "noble acts" and be someone worth respect.

Season 2 of The Mindy Project premieres Tuesday, Sept. 17 at 9:30 p.m. on Fox.

Watch this interview with Kaling on Late Show with David Letterman:


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