Mindy Kaling's 'different sides' feature in Never Have I Ever

Mindy Kaling sees some of herself in her ‘Never Have I Ever’ characters.

The 46-year-old actress co-created the hit drama series with Lang Fisher, and Mindy admits that different parts of her real-life self have been included in the show.

She told PEOPLE: “One of the great things about a show like this, and creating it, is that every character, I think, represents a different side of my personality.

“I am impatient, like Nalini [Poorna Jagannathan] and sort of no nonsense. I feel, like [I have] the same attitude about young people and efficiency that she has.

“But I really do relate on a very, like, cellular level to Devi [Maitreyi Ramakrishnan] and her want – her desire of being loved and accepted and wanting a boyfriend. That all feels so – that really mirrors my childhood.”

The coming-of-age comedy-drama has been a hit with viewers, and Mindy has confessed to being surprised by its popularity.

She said: “This is a show that we thought only a certain group of people would like, and that wasn’t the case. And it gave us confidence to explore more of these storylines that we felt that previously, we would’ve been like, ‘That seems too specific, people aren’t going to like it.’ So yeah, that’s been the biggest surprise to me.”

Meanwhile, Mindy recently confessed that she feels most comfortable writing about “strivers and dorks”.

The actress is a huge fan of the X-rated drama series ‘Euphoria’ – but thinks she’d struggle to write a similar show.

Mindy said: “I love ‘Euphoria’ and I think [creator] Sam [Levinson] is like a genius. I think he has a lot to say about things like sex and drug use and addiction and those are incredibly interesting, but we don’t have a ton of experience in that.

“I watch that show on the edge of my seat, vicariously, but I feel like nerds lusting over guys is more what we feel comfortable writing about so that’s why we do this. We write about strivers and dorks and people who are underestimated.”