Mindy Kaling says she's 'really excited' to become a mom

Aug. 15 (UPI) -- Pregnant actress Mindy Kaling says she's "really excited" to become a mom.

The 38-year-old Mindy Project star opened up about her pregnancy for the first time in a preview for the Sept. 10 episode of Sunday Today with Willie Geist.

"It's so unknown to me," she said of parenthood. "I have a lot of control over a lot of aspects of my life, and this is one where I'm like, 'Okay, it's out of my hands,' which is kind of a fun feeling."

Kaling jokingly told host Willie Geist she's looking forward to being able to criticize other parents. She said she hopes to be as supportive and openminded with her child as her late mom, Swati Roysircar, was with her.

"As you know, it's so easy to criticize parenting until you're a parent, so one of the nice things about becoming a parent is that I'll be able to openly criticize other parents because I will have a child," the star joked after Geist asked her what kind of mom she'd like to be.

"My mom was incredibly fierce and so devoted to us, just loved us and wanted us to be happy no matter what we did," she recalled. "My career choice was not something that she was familiar with, and she was just so supportive of that. If I could give that to my child, just that open-mindedness, I would be so happy."

Kaling has yet to share the identity of her unborn baby's father. E! News reported the actress' pregnancy in mid-July, with Kaling's A Wrinkle in Time co-star Oprah Winfrey later telling People the star is five months along.

"She told me [ahead of the D23 expo]. My mouth dropped," the media mogul said. "She said, 'Oh, Oprah, I don't think you know. I'm five months pregnant.' And I said, 'WHAAAAT?!"

"I'm excited for her," she added.

Kaling will reprise Mindy Lahiri on a sixth and final season of The Mindy Project in September. The Hulu series co-stars Chris Messina, who will return as Danny Castellano, Ed Weeks and Ike Barinholtz.