What’s It Like to Play Danny’s Mom on The Mindy Project? Rhea Perlman Dishes!

There aren’t enough high-fives to go around to applaud Mindy Kaling for the genius casting of Rhea Perlman on The Mindy Project this season. Danny’s mom could have been a shrill, overbearing character not worthy of coming between our Danny/Mindy screen time, but instead she’s been the equivalent of chocolate hard shell on a sinfully sweet bowl of rocky road and sprinkles ice cream. (That’s an analogy that Mindy Lahiri would approve of, right?) In other words, she’s a bonus that we didn’t know we needed.

On a recent morning at Universal Studios stage 27 (where Mindy tapes), I sat down with Perlman—who is just as animated and petite as you might expect—to chat playing Chris Messina’s mom, those crazy wigs, and how long we can expect to see her causing havoc on our favorite sitcom.

Glamour: Let’s get right to it. You are brilliant as Danny’s mom. How did the casting come about?

Rhea Perlman: Well, for one, I am having so much on this show! I knew Mindy from The Office, and I had been following her a lot with her book, etc. They just contacted me and said they wanted to add this character and probably do a few episodes. They sent me a little bit of material, not even a full script, and I thought it was great. I thought it was the final material in fact because it was so good! We talked on the phone, she and I, and Tracey Wigfield, who wrote that first episode I did, and man I was ready to go because it was such an outrageous character.

Glamour: That’s an understatement!

Rhea: You never know what’s going to get thrown at you with your character. She’s such a manipulative person. She loves her son, but she also has a lot of issues! She’s a criminal!

Glamour: Had you met Chris Messina before this?

Rhea: I didn’t know Chris Messina before, but it’s such a great match. We’re both from New York, so we fell into that. I felt like he could have been my son. My real son is my real son, but I’m much less careful about what I say around Chris than what I say around my real son. You know when you’re a real mother to a real son or daughter, there’s a certain relationship you have. We all get along so great. Chris is my friend at work. A colleague, so smart. He’s so great and such a great character.

Glamour: How did Annette’s look come together? Right now you’re wearing an amazing toucan vest, and I’m still laughing at your blond wig moment.

Rhea: I tend toward the outrageous anyway in what I like, so the more stupid stuff they can give me, the happier I am. I told them I wanted to wear a wig for the whole character. I wasn’t going to make it funny, but I didn’t want to be that curly-haired woman, and they were so into it. Anything I wanted to do, they were so great. Mindy is just so wonderful. I mean, she had opinions, and so did I, but she knows what she’s want and she knows she wants actors to be creative and happy.

Glamour: I asked Mindy how long you’ll stay with the show, and she said as long as you want. So now it’s your turn to tell me. [Laughs]

Rhea: I have all intentions to follow through and be here. My relationship with Jenny [O’Hara], who plays Dot, is great. We had met over the years, but didn’t know each other well, but our relationship on-screen just totally fell into place. It’s like Annette and Dot, Dot and Annette…we’re two peas in a pod. Danny [DeVito] had his mom, who has since passed, but she had sisters and they did everything together and went to bingo together. [Laughs] They egged each other on, and I just loved that relationship of the ladies that get together and live life together.

Glamour: Maybe I’m in the minority with this, but I wanted to see more of Annette dating Morgan. There was so much comedy there.

Rhea: Ike [Barintoltz] is a big teddy bear. When he comes over and gives you a hug, it’s a real hug! He’s truly the funniest person I’ve ever worked with. When we did that date scene, a lot of that wasn’t in [the script], and he did it differently each time, and I would have used any and all of them! He’s very truly funny.

Glamour: So who would you like Annette to date next?

Rhea: I never thought about who I’d like to see Annette with. She doesn’t want to be tied down! She’s a single lady and can experiment here, especially now that she’s found her voice, and is more familiar with online dating! She’ll take a little of this and a little of that.

Glamour: Now that Mindy is expecting, will we see a softer side to Annette now that she’s a grandmother-in-waiting?

Rhea: I don’t see her softening up to Mindy because she’ll be there and give her opinion on everything, but I think Annette really likes Mindy a lot and thinks she’s good for Danny. I’m going to give her sh-t, but I give everyone sh-t!

Glamour: I’d imagine you’re having a lot of fans approach you now solely because of this role. True?

Rhea: People are always coming over to me, and it’s so great with the younger audience. All of my daughter’s friends are hooked on the show and always have been. They’re like, “Oh my God, your mother!” My daughter will send me all the messages of what her friends say, and even when I had a little movie in Sundance recently, all the press on the press line were asking me about [playing Annette]. So, yeah, it’s good for me! [Laughs] I’m thankful for it!

An all-new episode of The Mindy Project airs next Tuesday, March 10, on Fox. If you missed our recent interview with Chris Messina, click here, and stay tuned in the coming weeks for interviews with Mindy, Ike Barinholtz, B.J. Novak, Max Greenfield, and others!

What kind of grandmother do you want Annette to be? Would you have liked to have seen more of her and Morgan together?