- [laughing]
How does it feel to have
strangers come in with cameras?
We're used to it now.
And these guys have been, [laughing]
they've seen me naked for five years.
[soothing jazz piano]
Hey Vanity Fair!
Welcome to my closet.
I am getting ready to go to the Oscars, no big deal.
I can't wait for you to see my final look.
I am here with my glam team,
this is Janis Kinjo, make-up artist,
Marc Mena, hair,
and Jessica Mulroney, my stylist.
These two are from New York
and this one is from Toronto,
so they came really far to make me look good.
- All worth it.
[Marc laughing]
- I hope so!
I hope you guys think
it was worth it. - Oh yes.
[bouncy piano music]
My name is Janis Kinjo, and I am a make-up artist.
Today is Oscars morning and we are in Mindy's house.
I'm very excited for it.
I have been working with Mindy for about five years.
- What was the first thing we did?
Oh my book!
- The book press.
- Yeah, it was book press for my--
- Your East Coast, yeah, "Why Not Me".
- That was also fun because
she came to, like, my childhood home in Boston.
- We went to Boston, D.C.,
and also New York to promote her book.
It was an amazing time [laughs].
- The only thing that we have decided this far,
is that we are going to do a dark,
but natural colored lip.
No red lips, no orange lips,
but we're gonna do a natural lip.
Depending on what color we do with the dress,
will determine what kind of eye makeup we do.
But always very clean, glowy,
radiant skin,
beautiful eyes and like just,
elegance is sort of the key here.
- I'm not a really serious person
who thinks of myself as elegant,
but I really wanted to seem elegant for this.
- [Janis] You are.
- So, no, I'm like fun.
I'm, like, approachable and fun,
and I love a party dress and street-wear.
So I really had to enlist, like, professionals
to help me get like an elegant Oscars look.
[electronic music]
- Hi, I'm Marc Mena,
and I am a celebrity hair stylist.
- I've been working with Marc for five years.
- [Marc] Yeah. Little bit over five years, I think.
- I over exaggerate everything.
I was like, "Oh, I've known her for like eight years",
but I think it's actually five.
- I met him in Atlanta, he was just.
They told me I had to do this conference in Atlanta,
and my agent was like, "And there's gonna be a mystery man.
He's coming from New York City to do your hair",
and I was like 'ok'.
- My agent was like,
"Hey, do you wanna go work for Mindy Kaling?"
I was like "Um, yeah? She's funny, of course".
- Since then, these guys have both done me for
the Met several times, and the Oscars and stuff.
But both times we started
was that kinda like, - [Marc] Yeah.
[laughter]
- They're just like,
very intimate on glamorous things.
- [Marc] Always glamorous.
- [Mindy] Always glamorous.
- [Marc] Always glamorous. - [Janis] Always.
- [Mindy] But more humble..
- [Marc] But more humble glamor.
- [Mindy] More humble, yeah.
- We wanted her hair to be glamorous,
and sophisticated, and lush, and shiny.
- [Mindy] To have Hollywood old glamour,
which feels like it's someone
with me and my career,
is not my comfort zone.
- This is the first time I've
worked with Mindy for the Oscars.
We've done the Met Gala, and a bunch of other red carpets,
so this is a pretty big, big moment for us.
- I'm used to wearing something that um...
I know, cause I come from comedy,
and I never wanna seem like I'm taking myself so seriously.
Even at the Met, we do things that
have, like, a wink to them.
Like, remember Marc we had like that
blonde hair, and--
- The crown. - The crown.
- Yeah. So for this, and a crown.
So for this, it
and I like that 'cause it's costumey,
but for the Oscars, one of the biggest challenges
was to sort of like allow myself to be the like,
fit like here
- It's a slow, sexy wink.
- [laughing] Yes, like a--
- I think our relationship has become very personal.
We spend a lot of time with her.
She's really kind. She's smart. She's sophisticated.
She has a very great eye for color, and art, and taste.
I just think there's just so many qualities.
I mean I could go on and on.
Oh, she's hysterical.
- The first check I ever wrote,
and I don't think this is funny,
but this is the truth,
was, I was really into writing at a time, even plays on
this is before computers,
so this was revealing how old I am.
We had a typewriter in my mom's medical office,
where I would have to go after school
and just sit alone in a room.
So I wrote this one page play about a haunted house
where a witch, a goblin, and a werewolf lived in.
And I thought it was so hilarious,
but the werewolf was like,
"This house is a dump.
How much are we paying on taxes in this haunted house?"
And I remember, like, laughing and laughing
'cause at, you know, six or seven,
the fact that I knew what taxes were was like,
felt really sophisticated to me.
Why aren't you guys laughing?
[laughing]
- What? Because it's not funny, or because it's too funny?
- [Marc] I'm laughing inside.
- [laughs] This is so damning.
[soft music]
- Collaboration process is a big process, you know.
Starts weeks in advanced.
The minute we know she's going to the Oscars,
and she's presenting, actually, at the Oscars.
So we start brainstorming right away,
we start thinking about silhouettes, and dresses,
and different designers are sending her dresses, so.
We're looking at the silhouettes,
the colors, and what works best for her.
So once the dress is decided it's,
you know, it's come down to glam.
[upbeat Music]
- I'm Jessica Mulroney, and I am Mindy Kaling's stylist.
Well for the Oscars, we really wanted it to be elevated.
And you know, to me,
the Oscars is about bringing the glamor.
It is not about taking a fashion risk,
it's about finding the right color,
the right silhouette.
Just making sure that she shines, and not the dress.
- I had a lot of discussions with my stylist,
Jessica Mulroney,
about how to make the look, like, be really elevated
and not just like Mindy going to a party,
but Mindy going to the Oscars.
- We know Mindy looks great in so many colors.
And when it comes to Mindy as well, like,
we collaborate a lot on these fashion decisions, you know.
She's so into fashion, which I love.
So we talk like girlfriends,
and we kind of go through shapes, and we look at dresses,
and she sends me looks that she likes,
I send her looks that I like.
And it's this really fun process.
It's like as if you're kind of
working with your girlfriend,
and helping her get dressed for a night out.
- The way that I used to get styled, sorta before Jessica,
was that there wouldn't be that many options
because you know, I'm not a sample size.
And so we would have a couple options
that I was not crazy about.
And then at the end, we'd just wear the thing that fit.
You know. But things have changed in the past couple years.
I think people are so much more open to
women and actors who have something to say,
and it's not just about them fitting into a sample.
And so this year we had so many amazing designers
build custom beautiful dresses, and that was because
I think designer's attitudes have changed,
and Jessica's relationships with a lot of designers
has a lot to do with it.
- When it comes to Mindy,
you know, whenever she steps out on a red carpet,
I always feel pressure.
I never want her to ever step out and not look her best.
[electronic keyboard music]
- The pressure for the Oscars is enormous.
There's so many eyeballs looking at Mindy.
- If there's one thing of getting ready for the Oscars,
and then getting ready for the Oscars
'cause you're presenting.
Mindy's presenting.
So not only is she gonna walk the red carpet,
but she's also gonna be seen on TV by millions of people.
- At this point,
we're still in between dresses as well [laughs].
So even though it's down to the crunch,
the dresses have not been chosen yet.
There's a lot of dresses that come into [laughs] play.
Sometimes they come into play a day before.
Sometimes they come a week before.
You never really know when that dress is going to
come into play.
- This is the first time where I had, like, seven dresses
and they were all gorgeous.
- Yeah.
- [Marc] And it's elevated.
It's more of an elevated--
- It's super elevated, but it's so you.
The Oscars is where classic
meets modern beauty and elegance,
and I think it's such a huge moment to be a part of.
- This Oscars, I think,
you have to really elevate it, you know.
You have to take it to another level.
And she's getting a custom made gown by Dolce & Gabanna.
So we really wanted everything to come together,
like an art installation.
- Lots of craziness happening all around,
but she is going to look like perfection.
It's like all old Hollywood glamour.
That's all I wanted for her,
and I think we achieved that.
Mindy is so smart, so talented.
She's gorgeous. She's so funny.
But really, at the end of the day,
she's so authentic and so many people relate to her.
Just as a Asian woman working in this industry,
she is a huge inspiration to me.
- There wasn't, growing up, a lot of people
that looked like me on TV and film,
and honestly there aren't that many now.
So it's,
I would've been thrilled to see a dark-skinned Indian woman
presenting at the Oscars.
I think that would have been really exciting for me,
and given me a lot of
reason I could thought I could make it too.
So that, I don't think I hadn't,
until you asked that question,
I hadn't thought about that.
But, that would be great if some people,
some of young women had that reaction too.
Thanks Vanity Fair
for hanging out with me while I got ready.
I hope you approve.
It's my favorite gown I've ever worn.
Wish me luck.
Bye!
- Bye! - Bye!
- Thanks for coming over!