Mindy Kaling has shared a first look at her upcoming Scooby-Doo spin-off series and insisted she doesn’t care if people ‘freak out’ that the character is South Asian.
Animated series Velma , who , and will air on HBO Max.
Mindy, who previously starred in the acclaimed US Office, plays the lead in the iconic character’s origin story, which she previously hinted will see her ‘struggle to navigate the pitfalls of high school, her budding sexuality, and a serial killer intent on murdering every popular kid in town.’
US Network HBO Max confirmed last year it has ordered a 10-episode first series of Velma, with Mindy also working as executive producer on the project.
Charlie Grandy, Howard Klein and Sam Register also serve as executive producers, while Warner Bros. Animations will produce.
Mindy herself gave a first look at the series at the Warner Bros Discovery Upfront presentation in New York City this week.
Acording to , the actress reportedly said on-stage: ‘Hopefully you noticed my Velma is South Asian. If people freak out about that, I don’t care.’
A picture taken of the presentation confirms that Velma is a lot more violent than what children who grew up with Scooby Doo would be used to, as it shows a character with the top of her head sawn off and her brain missing.
Mindy previously faced backlash when it was announced she would be voicing a South Asian version of the cartoon character, with the actress admitting she ‘didn’t understand’ people’s rage.
In an interview last summer, she told Seth Meyers ‘people were very supportive and happy’ when the project was first announced, but when it was revealed Velma would be South Asian ‘people were not happy.’
‘There was a lot of, like, “So not Velma!” Those kind of tweets. “Not the classic Velma that I’m always thinking about!”,’ Mindy said.
The actress said she didn’t quite understand the backlash, and reminded people that ‘there are Indian nerds, it shouldn’t be a surprise to people.’
She reassured viewers that she would do the character justice, ‘because we really love her.’
A release date for Velma is yet to be announced.
