The Office’s Most Toxic Yet Iconic Couple Was Copied From BTS Drama

Summary:

• The Office was an NBC sitcom that ran from 2005 to 2013.
• The show has several iconic couples, but only one of them, Kelly and Ryan, was inspired by the actors' real-life relationship.
• According to BJ Novak, who portrayed Ryan, his dynamic with Mindy Kaling mirrored the characters.

Sometimes life imitates art, but more often it's art inspired by something that happens in real life. There are many well-known characters, events, and dynamics that TV and movie writers have taken from their personal experiences and put into scripts to capture on film forever.

While we're all used to hearing rumors of celebrity romances that happen while working on a project together, none stand out as much as Mindy Kaling and BJ Novak.

The chemistry that viewers saw on their screens while watching The Office was real. Moreover, it was that chemistry that initially inspired the writers to write them into the show and recreate the same feelings they had for each other on camera for millions to see.

Are BJ Novak and Mindy Kaling Dating?

While many people wish that happy couples like Pam and Jim really existed in real life and spread the example of a caring relationship, that wasn't the case with The Office. The entire production was shot with a completely different couple and completely opposite energy.

Speaking to Vulture about his co-star, friend and eventual "soup snake" Mindy Kaling, BJ Novak admitted that the relationship between their iconic characters, Kelly and Ryan, often mirrored their own. Beginning in the sitcom's writers room, Kaling and Novak grew closer one day and further apart the next.

“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. All you'd know for sure was that you'd always find one of us next to the other, even if we weren't getting along,” the actor said.

Picking up on the tension behind the camera, the showrunner decided they needed the same energy that was being portrayed on screen. But while the actors behind the characters grew older, learned to communicate with each other, and established the necessary boundaries, Ryan and Kelly's onscreen relationship remained the same until the very end.

Though it's hard to tell if running off into the sunset was the final happy ending for The Office's most toxic couple, or if they broke up the very next day, Mindy Kaling and BJ Novak managed to reach a point that was comfortable for both of them.

Being best friends and family (as Novak is godfather to Kaling's daughter) was perhaps the best outcome the two could make out of such a messy past.

If you are nostalgic for The Office and want to follow the messy, yet very relatable love story of Ryan Howard and Kelly Kapoor from beginning to end, you can stream the sitcom on Peacock TV.

Source: Vulture