Mindy Kaling talks pregnancy, coming to terms with ‘giving up control’

It would be hard to achieve the Mindy Kaling level of professional success without having a clear sense of direction. But, in Kaling’s first interview about pending motherhood, the actress admits she’s no longer going to be in the driver’s seat. That feeling—of excitement, anxiety and a general lack of control—is one many fellow first-time parents can relate to.

“It’s so unknown to me,” Kaling said in a preview for an upcoming interview with Sunday Today.

Currently filming the final season of her Hulu series, The Mindy Project, Kaling is used to walking red carpets. But she admits she’s not so sure what she’s walking into when it comes to motherhood.

“I have a lot of control over a lot of aspects of my life,” she said. “And this is one where I’m like, ‘OK, it’s out of my hands,’ which is kind of a fun feeling.”

It’s true, not knowing exactly what comes next is an exciting and fun aspect of becoming a parent. Research shows first-time moms experience an increase in happiness in expectation of and right after the birth of their first child—even though pregnancy and parenthood is basically a giant curveball no one can fully prepare for.

That may be especially daunting for Kaling, who previously shared she’s an ENTJ personality type according to the Myers-Briggs personality test—which means she is organized and prone to taking charge of situations. Although pregnancy is one aspect of her life that Kailing won’t be able to control or influence, but the actress said she hopes to follow the example set by her late mother.

“My mom was incredibly fierce and so devoted to us, just loved us and really wanted us to be happy no matter what we did,” Kaling explains in the interview preview. “My career choice was not something that she was familiar with and she was just so supportive of that. And if I could give that to my child, just that open-mindedness, I’d be so happy.”

Kaling may feel out of control now, but it definitely sounds like she’ll have things handled by the time her child is making their own career choices. She’s proving that although a first pregnancy can sometimes make mothers-to-be feel like passengers in our own lives, we will eventually be able to steer for ourselves—and our kiddos.