Mindy Kaling recalls social anxiety on set of The 40-Year-Old Virgin

Mindy Kaling has recalled being "socially anxious" on the set of her 2005 movie debut The 40-Year-Old Virgin.

For her first film role, The Office actress played Amy, the ex-girlfriend of Paul Rudd's character, in Judd Apatow's romantic comedy, which also starred Steve Carrell, Seth Rogen and Catherine Keener.

Because she was new to the movie world and only in one sequence, Kaling was "an introvert and so socially anxious" on the set and didn't know how to become friends with her co-stars.

During an appearance on the Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard podcast, The Mindy Project star remembered feeling so awkward sat behind Rudd, Rogen, Elizabeth Banks and Leslie Mann at the monitors that she decided to return to her trailer.

"They were all sitting at the front by the monitors, joking around, talking and everything. And I was sitting in the back row and it became so awkward because I didn't feel like I knew how to jump in," she recalled. "I also knew, because I'd been on The Office, that feeling when someone's trying to be part of it and I didn't want to do that.

"I'm like, I'm feeling desperate so whatever I'm going to say is going to sound (silly). So I just went back to my trailer. I remember thinking I hope hope hope that they don't think I was being cold, standoffish. Truth is, they weren't thinking about me - I was a day player on The 40-Year-Old Virgin - but I remember being like, what a missed opportunity."

Kaling added that if she had better social skills, she would have "been smiley" and contributed to their conversation if they turned around to include her.