B. J. Novak

Benjamin Joseph Manaly Novak (born July 31, 1979 ) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, author, and producer. He gained traction as a comedian during the early 2000s before becoming an actor for the MTV reality prank show Punk'd.

Novak had his breakout with a main role as Ryan Howard on seasons 1–8 of the NBC mockumentary sitcom The Office (2005–2013). His acting, writing and producing for the show earned him two Screen Actors Guild Awards and a Writers Guild of America Award, alongside five nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series.

In the late 2000s, Novak had supporting roles in the films Reign Over Me (2007) and Inglourious Basterds (2009). In the 2010s, he portrayed musician Robert B. Sherman in Saving Mr. Banks (2013) and Marvel Comics character Alistair Smythe in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014). He had a starring role as Harry J. Sonneborn in the biographical film The Founder (2016) and voiced Baker Smurf in The Smurfs (2011) and The Smurfs 2 (2013). In television, he had a recurring role as Lucas Pruit on the HBO series The Newsroom (2014).

In the 2020s, Novak created and wrote the FX on Hulu anthology series The Premise (2021). He made his film directorial debut with Vengeance (2022), which he also produced and starred in. He also appears in a supporting role in The Devil Wears Prada 2 (2026), in which he plays Jay Ravitz, the son of the Runway chairman Irv Ravitz.

In addition to his film and television career, Novak authored the books One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories (2014) and The Book with No Pictures (2014).

Early life Novak was born on July 31, 1979, at Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Newton, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. His parents are Linda (née ) and author William Novak. He is Jewish. His father co-edited The Big Book of Jewish Humor, and has ghostwritten memoirs for Nancy Reagan, Lee Iacocca, Magic Johnson and others. Novak has two brothers: Lev Novak and composer Jesse Novak.

He attended Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Boston and Brown Middle School. He went to Camp Ramah in New England in Massachusetts in the summers of his 6th, 7th and 9th grades.

He attended Newton South High School with future The Office costar John Krasinski; they graduated in 1997.

During high school, Novak was friends with Costin Alamariu, and they both worked for Newton South High School's newspaper. The two of them, along with Peter Owen Nelson, and Novak's brother pranked visitors at the Museum of Fine Arts by replacing the real guided tour with a phony tour narrated by Alamariu which slowly but steadily became more surreal and profanity laden. Novak admitted to the prank in 2011 at a fundraiser for his high school and was officially forgiven by the MFA in 2024.

Novak graduated from Harvard University in 2001, where he was a member of the Harvard Lampoon. He majored in English and Spanish literature, and wrote his honors thesis on the films of Shakespeare's Hamlet. He was named one of Varietys "Ten Comedians To Watch" in 2003.

He was a writer for the short-lived The WB sitcom Raising Dad.

An image of Novak entered the public domain as a stock photo and has been used on various international products, reportedly including a particular type of Calvin Klein cologne in Sweden. thumb

The Office

After hearing Novak's opening joke at a comedy club, executive producer Greg Daniels decided he "wanted to do something with him." Sometimes when this feels too good to be true, I think that if this were all a dream, that would be what should have tipped me off. I'd wake up saying, "I was in this incredible TV show and it was a big hit and the star was John [Krasinski] from high school. Isn't that weird?"

Post-The Office career

Novak has had supporting roles in Quentin Tarantino's 2009 war film Inglourious Basterds, John Lee Hancock's 2013 period drama Saving Mr. Banks about the development of the 1964 film Mary Poppins, and Hancock's 2016 biographical drama The Founder about the founder of McDonald's.

He has also appeared in the films Unaccompanied Minors (2006), Knocked Up (2007), Reign Over Me (2007), The Internship (2013) and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014).

He voiced Baker Smurf in The Smurfs (2011) and The Smurfs 2 (2013).

He has starred in a few episodes each of The Mindy Project and The Newsroom, and made cameo appearances on Community and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. He was also a consulting producer for the first season of The Mindy Project.

He wrote, directed and executive-produced a half-hour anthological series, The Premise, released on FX in 2021. He starred in the 2022 mystery-thriller Vengeance, which he also wrote and directed. Filming began in March 2020 but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic until January 2021. In May 2020, it was announced that he would write and executive-produce Young People for HBO Max.

Book deal On April 11, 2013, publishing house Alfred A. Knopf announced it had signed a seven-figure, two-book deal with Novak, with the first book to be a collection of Woody Allen-like fiction stories. On February 4, 2014, a book of 64 stories, One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories, was published and spent 6 weeks on the New York Times Best Sellers Hardcover Fiction List.

Novak also signed a deal with Penguin's children's books label and wrote The Book with No Pictures, released on September 30, 2014. As of January 2021, it had spent 174 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller Picture Books List, with 34 weeks at #1, and was at #10 in September 2020. A self-proclaimed lifelong book-lover, Novak said he wrote the children's book partially because "to me, there is no more meaningful, important or exciting rule to introduce to children than the power of the written word."

On November 19, 2019, My Book with No Pictures was published as a fill-in-the-blanks companion book to The Book with No Pictures to allow children to write their own stories.

The List App On October 14, 2015, Novak released an Apple iOS app along with co-founder Dev Flaherty called The List App. The app allowed users to make lists. Its FAQ page said "we just love lists. They're the best." It was nominated for a Webby Award (losing in its category to Beme and Pocket) in 2016. In May 2016, it was rebranded 'li.st' and became available on the Android platform. In September 2017, it was shut down due to lack of users.

Personal life Novak has a close friendship with Mindy Kaling, whom he met through writing for The Office, and called her "the most important person in my life" (on Fresh Air with Terry Gross). They dated on and off while writing and acting on the show, sometimes mirroring the on-again, off-again relationship between their characters Ryan Howard and Kelly Kapoor. He is the godfather of Kaling's first two children.

Novak lives in Los Angeles.

Filmography +Key Denotes works that have not yet been released

Film Acting credits Year Title Role Notes 2006 Unaccompanied Minors Flight Attendant 2007 Knocked Up Unnamed Doctor Reign Over Me Mr. Fallon 2009 Inglourious Basterds Pfc. Smithson Utivich 2011 The Smurfs Baker Smurf (voice) 2012 The Dictator Uncredited 2013 The Internship Male Interviewer The Smurfs 2 Baker Smurf (voice) Saving Mr. Banks Robert B. Sherman 2014 The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Alistair Smythe 2016 The Founder Harry J. Sonneborn 2021 Melinda's Wish Bruce (voice) Short film 2022 Vengeance Ben Manalowitz Also writer and director 2026 The Devil Wears Prada 2 Jay Ravitz

Television Acting credits YearTitle Role Notes 2003 Punk'd Field Agent 5 episodes 2004 Premium Blend Himself Season 7, Stand-up 2005–2013 The Office Ryan Howard 166 episodes 2013–2016 The Mindy Project Jamie 5 episodes 2014 Community Mr. Egypt Episode: "Basic Sandwich" The Newsroom Lucas Pruit 4 episodes 2015 Arthur MC (voice) Episode: "The Last Day" 2016; 2018 Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Himself 2 episodes 2020 Home Movie: The Princess Bride Count Rugen Episode: "Chapter Six: The Fire Swamp" 2023 Celebrity Jeopardy! Himself ContestantLessons in ChemistrySix-Thirty (voice)Episode: "Living Dead Things"2025Poker FaceHiram LubinskiEpisode: "Hometown Hero"

Writing credits YearTitle Notes 2001–2002 Raising Dad Episodes written: Season 1, Episode 5 – "Fight for Your Right to Party" (November 2, 2001) Season 1, Episode 13 – "Mentor Matt" (February 1, 2002) 2005–2012 Episodes written: Season 1, Episode 2 – "Diversity Day" (March 29, 2005) Season 2, Episode 2 – "Sexual Harassment" (September 27, 2005) Season 2, Episode 4 – "The Fire" (October 11, 2005) Season 2, Episode 15 – "Boys and Girls" (February 2, 2006) Season 3, Episode 5 – "Initiation" (October 19, 2006) Season 3, Episode 20 – "Safety Training" (April 12, 2007) Season 4, Episode 9 – "Local Ad" (October 25, 2007) Season 4, Episode 14 – "Chair Model" (April 17, 2008) Season 5, Episode 13 – "Prince Family Paper" (January 22, 2009) Season 5, Episode 22 – "Dream Team" (April 9, 2009) Season 6, Episode 21 – "Happy Hour" (March 25, 2010) Season 7, Episode 2 – "Counseling" (September 30, 2010) Season 7, Episode 17 – "Threat Level Midnight" (February 17, 2011) Season 8, Episode 1 – "The List" (September 22, 2011) Season 8, Episode 24 – "Free Family Portrait Studio" (May 10, 2012) Writers Guild of America Award for Comedy Series (2006)Nominated — Writers Guild of America Award for a Comedy Series (2005, 2007–2010)Nominated — Writers Guild of America Award for a New Series (2005)Nominated — Writers Guild of America Award for an Episodic Comedy (2005, 2007) 2013 Episodes written: Season 1, Episode 13 – "Harry & Sally" (January 29, 2013) Nominated: Writers Guild of America Award for a New Series (2012) 2021 The Premise Episodes written: Season 1, Episode 1 – "Social Justice Sex Tape" (September 16, 2021) Season 1, Episode 2 – "Moment of Silence" (September 16, 2021) Season 1, Episode 3 – "The Ballad of Jesse Wheeler" (September 23, 2021) Season 1, Episode 4 – "The Commenter" (September 30, 2021) Season 1, Episode 5 – "Butt Plug" (October 7, 2021)

Directing credits