Mindy Kaling ‘couldn’t understand’ backlash to her playing Velma in Scooby-Doo spin-off: ‘People were not happy’

Mindy Kaling has responded to the backlash she received over voicing a South Asian version of Velma in the new Scooby-Doo spin-off.

Earlier this year HBO Max announced plans for the new series Velma, which is an ‘adult animated comedy series’ exploring Velma’s origin story, with Mindy producing and voicing the popular character.

HBO went on to call the series ‘an original and humorous spin that unmasks the complex and colourful past of one of America’s most beloved mystery solvers’.

While fans were originally happy with the news, this changed last month when it was revealed that Velma would be South Asian.

Mindy explained the backlash during an appearance on Late Night With Seth Meyers.

‘When it was announced that I was going to do the voice of Velma, people were very supportive and happy on Twitter. And so I felt great,’ she said.

Mindy Kaling to play Velma in Scooby-Doo spin-off (Picture: Getty/Warner Bros)

‘These are really intense fans, you know – cartoon, comic book fans, those are huge fans. And especially [for] a legacy show like this.

‘Then it was announced about a month ago that the Velma character would be reimagined as South Asian, and people were not happy.’

While the character has been portrayed as East Asian in recent adaptations, Mindy discussed the negative responses she received.

‘There was a lot of, like, “So not Velma!” Those kind of tweets. “Not the classic Velma that I’m always thinking about!”,’ Mindy said.

The actress said she didn’t quite understand the backlash, but reassured viewers that she would do the character justice.

Mindy spoke to Seth Meyers about the backlash (Picture: NBCU photo bank via Getty Image)

‘She’s such a great character. She’s so smart. And I just couldn’t understand how people couldn’t imagine a really smart, nerdy girl with terrible eyesight, and who loved to solve mysteries, could be Indian,’ Mindy explained.

‘Like, there are Indian nerds. It shouldn’t be a surprise to people.’

The actress did say that the response from fans made her

‘It really made me think, “OK, we’ve got to be really careful with this character,”‘ she said, adding, ‘Which we will be, because we really love her.’

Velma is a spin-off of Scooby-Doo (Picture: Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock)

The spin-off may be slightly different to what fans may be expecting, as the beloved dog Scooby-Doo won’t be featured and there also won’t be a mystery van.

At this stage, it’s unclear if the other human characters from the original series will make an appearance.

More: Mindy

Velma will be a standalone series and it has been given a 10-episode order with Charlie Grandy, Howard Klein, and Sam Register serving as executive producers alongside Kaling.

Metro.co.uk has reached out to representatives for further comment.

A release date for the Scooby-Doo spin-off is yet to be announced.

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