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B. J. Novak

Benjamin Joseph Manaly Novak[1] (born July 31, 1979) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He has received five Primetime Emmy Award nominations and won two Screen Actors Guild Awards.

B. J. Novak

Benjamin Joseph Manaly Novak

(1979-07-31) July 31, 1979
  • Actor
  • comedian
  • writer

2001–present

Jesse Novak (brother)

Novak is known for starring as Ryan Howard in the NBC sitcom The Office (2005–2013), for which he was also a writer and executive producer. He appeared in the films Inglourious Basterds (2009), Saving Mr. Banks (2013) and The Founder (2016). He made his directorial debut in 2022 with the dark comedy thriller Vengeance, which he also wrote and starred in.


Novak also appeared in The Mindy Project (2013–2016) and The Newsroom (2014), and was the creator and executive producer of Hulu anthology series The Premise (2021). He portrays Alistair Smythe in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014).


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

Early life[edit]

Novak was born on July 31, 1979,[2] at Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Newton, Massachusetts.[3] His parents are Linda (née Manaly) and author William Novak.[4][5][6] 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.[7][8] Novak has two brothers: Lev Novak and composer Jesse Novak.


He attended Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Boston and Brown Middle School.[9] He went to Camp Ramah in New England in Massachusetts in the summers of his 6th, 7th and 9th grades.[10]


He attended Newton South High School with future The Office costar John Krasinski;[11] they graduated in 1997.[11] Novak edited one of the school newspapers, The Lion's Roar, and cowrote a satirical play with Krasinski.[12]


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.[13] Aside from the Lampoon, he occasionally staged and performed in a variety show called The B.J. Show with fellow Harvard student B. J. Averell.[11]

Personal life[edit]

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.[30] He is the godfather of Kaling's two children.[31][32]


Novak lives in Los Angeles.[33]

Novak, B. J. (February 4, 2014). One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.  9780385351836.

ISBN

Novak, B. J. (September 30, 2014). The Book with No Pictures. Dial Books.  9780803741713.

ISBN

Novak, B. J. (November 19, 2019). My Book with No Pictures. Dial Books.  9780593111017.

ISBN

Hoys, Matt; Brooks, Mel (2013). Comic Genius: Portraits of Funny People. . ISBN 978-1452131955.

Chronicle Books

Novak, William (2006). The Big Book of Jewish Humor. Collins.  978-0-06-113813-3.

ISBN

at IMDb

B. J. Novak

on Twitter

B. J. Novak

an NPR interview from May 2008

"The Office's BJ Novak: Uncut"