NPR

Mindy Kaling And Emma Thompson Shatter The 'Late Night' Glass Ceiling

Thompson plays a successful TV host who pulled the ladder up behind her in the movie Late Night. Kaling says a female late night host is "science fiction," but this was the role she wanted to write.

There's a funny thing about late night TV, says Mindy Kaling. Watching these shows, "there's such a joie de vivre" — but it's at odds with the "ruthlessness and mercilessness" that goes into making the show behind the scenes. "I was obsessed with how all these people could be working so hard and be so competitive to make a product that is so entertaining and light," Kaling says.

Kaling explores that dichotomy — and the racism, ageism and sexism of television — in her new film Emma Thompson stars as talk show host Katherine Newbury, a once-popular comic who broke through the glass ceiling of late-night comedy, only to

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from NPR

NPR2 min readAmerican Government
Biden Is Giving $6 Billion To Micron For A Semiconductor Project In Upstate New York
The Micron project comes after the White House has announced massive investments for Intel, TSMC and Samsung in recent weeks using funds from the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act.
NPR5 min readFinance & Money Management
Housing Experts Say There Just Aren't Enough Homes In The U.S.
The United States is millions of homes short of demand, and lacks enough affordable housing units. And many Americans feel like housing costs are eating up too much of their take-home pay.
NPR2 min readInternational Relations
World Central Kitchen Workers Killed In Israeli Strikes Will Be Honored At Memorial
The aid workers were killed April 1 when a succession of Israeli armed drones ripped through vehicles in their convoy as they left one of World Central Kitchen's warehouses on a food delivery mission.

Related Books & Audiobooks