Mindy Kaling Tried (and Failed) to Convince People She's Dating Common

Actress opens up to Conan O'Brien about her chance encounter with the singer at the Met Gala

Mindy Kaling felt like the belle of the ball at the 2016 Met Gala, but alas, she didn't find her Prince Charming that night. "They call it the Super Bowl of fashion, and it's very intimidating. But it was great!" she said on Conan Tuesday. "I had a great time. There's like every possible celebrity—skinny celebrity—that you could ever be seen with. The whole thing about the Met Ball is you spend like three hours getting ready and then you get your photo taken, and then you go in and unstrap your girdle and eat your dinner. But before you go in, you're like, 'OK, I've gotta make sure this photo is great.' And you're just randomly next to other celebrities." She flew solo, because "it's such a fancy thing they don't give you a date, so you have to make a lot of friends there. They don't want randos there; they don't want me to bring my rando friend."

The 36-year-old creator and star of Hulu's The Mindy Project ascended the steps wearing a custom Tory Burch dress and Jimmy Choo heels. At one point, Kaling recalled, "I was actually right behind the musician Common, who I'm a huge fan of...I think we look like a great couple."

Host Conan O'Brien agreed that they'd make a perfect pair. "I saw that picture and I thought you two were together," he said. "I mean, that's what you think when you look at that picture."

"Thank you, Conan," Kaling said. "Thank you!"

"We were on the carpet and a photographer was like, 'Hey, take a photo together!' He was like, 'Yeah, whatever,' and I was like, 'Oh, yeah!' He's like handsome, Oscar-winning Common—a person that I would never be allowed to be five feet away from, were it not forced," she said. "We took the photo and I was like, 'Oh, this is going to be great. Like, the rumor mill is starting: Are Common and Mindy together? Look at the sparks, the natural camaraderie they have.'"

And what happened after the photo was released? "Nothing," Kaling said. "I was just checking [my phone] the whole night. Everyone was like, 'Ugh, Mindy's so lucky that Common took a photo with her.' It was so much closer to 'Sick Woman Allowed to Take Photo With Celebrity.'"

"So you're saying you would like it if there were rumors about you and guys out there?" O'Brien asked. Kaling replied, "I think I've earned that, Conan. I've been on television for a long time."