Mindy Kaling admits she 'just couldn't understand' the fan backlash to her playing a South Asian version of Velma in her upcoming Scooby-Doo spinoff

She was beset by criticism from fans after it was announced that she would voice a South Asian version of Velma Dinkley in an upcoming animated Scooby-Doo spinoff.

But Mindy Kaling admitted she didn't see the complaints coming during an appearance Thursday night on Late Night With Seth Meyers.

The 42-year-old star of The Office said she 'just couldn’t understand' why some people had so much trouble imagining Velma as Indian.

According to Mindy, the initial reactions to her taking on the role for the Velma-centric series were largely positive.

'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. 

But as with many pop culture properties, it was a select group of niche fans who were most dedicated to keeping the character exactly as she had been portrayed on the original animated series, which debuted in 1969.

'These are really intense fans, you know? Like cartoon, comic book — those are huge fans, 'she continued, adding that fans could be especially resistant to change when it came to 'a legacy show.'

Confusingly, the new version of Velma was described as 'East Asian' in June by Tom Ascheim, president of Kids, Young Adults and Classics at Warner Bros., meaning that the character's family would originally come from countries including China, Japan and the Koreas, but Mindy referred to the character as South Asian, which would more closely match her Indian heritage.

The character had previously been portrayed as East Asian in recent adaptations.

The writer and actress recounted the social media backlash.

'There was a lot of "So not Velma" ... "Not the classic Velma that I’m always thinking about,"' she said.

But she countered that her version of Velma could be just as appropriate as the classic version of the animated sleuth. 

'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 added.

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

Even though the complainers didn't dissuade her from taking on the role, they did make her take the project more seriously.

'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.'

The new Scooby-Doo spin-off will be missing a crucial part of the original series: Scooby-Doo.

There also won't be a mystery van, and it's unclear if the other human characters from the original series will appear in any capacity.

Following the initial announcement, negative fan reactions were a mix of racist comments and disappointment from fans who worried the show would stereotype Asians.

'Changing the race of the character is one thing (it's weird, but whatever), but if you're also changing the setting and removing *everything else* Scooby Doo related, why not just make a brand new character?' complained one social media user.

'That doesn’t even make any sense??? Why not just make a new show like df???' complained another. 'Just saw that they changed Velma on Scooby Doo. WTF! She's not Velma then @warnerbros @wbpictures @WBHomeEnt What were you people thinking?!!!!'  

Others wondered why the show couldn't have a completely original character with Mindy portraying her.