Benjamin Joseph Manaly Novak (born July 31, 1979) is an American actor, writer, comedian, and director. Novak is best known as one of the writers and executive producers of The Office (2005–2013), in which he also played Ryan Howard, and as the best-selling author of the children’s book, The Book With No Pictures. As an actor, he has also appeared as PFC Smithson “The Little Man” Utivich in the film Inglourious Basterds (2009), Robert B. Sherman in Saving Mr. Banks (2013), and Harry J. Sonneborn in The Founder (2016).
Early life
Novak was born July 31, 1979, in Newton, Massachusetts. His parents are Linda (née Manaly) and author William Novak. Novak’s family 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 younger brothers, Jesse, a composer, and Lev.
He attended Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Boston for elementary school and middle school. He went to Camp Ramah in New England in Massachusetts for several summers when he was in 6th, 7th, and 9th grade. He attended Newton South High School with future The Office costar John Krasinski, and they graduated in 1997. Novak edited one of the school newspapers, The Lion’s Roar and cowrote a satirical play with Krasinski.
Novak graduated from Harvard University in 2001, where he was a member of the Harvard Lampoon and the Hasty Pudding Club. He majored in English and Spanish literature, and wrote his honors thesis on the films of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. 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.
Career
Following his graduation from Harvard, he moved to Los Angeles, California and began working in clubs as a comedian. His first live stand-up performance took place at the Hollywood Youth Hostel on October 10, 2001. He was named one of Variety’s “Ten Comedians To Watch” in 2003.
Novak was a writer for the short-lived The WB sitcom Raising Dad. He performed on Comedy Central’s Premium Blend and on Late Night with Conan O’Brien.
Novak’s television acting career began on MTV’s Punk’d. He was the lead accomplice to Ashton Kutcher on the show’s second season in 2003, playing pranks on Hilary Duff, Rachael Leigh Cook, Usher, and Mýa.
Novak in June 2007
The Office
After hearing Novak’s opening joke at a comedy club, executive producer Greg Daniels decided he “wanted to do something with him”. Novak was subsequently cast as Ryan Howard, who is first introduced on the show as a temporary employee at Dunder Mifflin in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Novak’s character goes through ups and downs throughout his work career and has an on and off relationship with Kelly Kapoor (Mindy Kaling).
Novak was not only a cast member on the show but also a producer and writer. He, along with Mindy Kaling, Greg Daniels, Michael Schur, and Paul Lieberstein, were the original writers for the show. He is credited with writing 15 episodes during the show’s duration including the Writer’s Guild of America nominated episodes “Diversity Day” and “Local Ad”.
On July 21, 2010, news reports indicated Novak had signed a contract to remain with the show for its seventh and eighth seasons. Under the new terms, he would be made an executive producer midway through Season 7 and direct two episodes of the show. Novak left The Office after the ninth-season season premiere “New Guys”, however, he returned to guest-star in the final episode of the series.
Novak and his fellow writers and producers of The Office were nominated five consecutive times for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series from 2007-2011.
In a June 2009 interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer, Novak spoke about sharing the success of The Office with his Newton South High School classmate John Krasinski:
“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 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 about an alternate history of World War II, John Lee Hancock’s 2013 period drama film Saving Mr. Banks about the development of the 1964 film Mary Poppins, and John Lee Hancock’s 2016 biographical drama The Founder about the founders of McDonald’s.
Novak has also appeared in the films Unaccompanied Minors in 2006, Knocked Up in 2007, Reign Over Me in 2007, The Internship in 2013, and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 in 2014.
Novak voiced Baker Smurf in The Smurfs in 2011 and The Smurfs 2 in 2013.
He has starred in a few episodes each of The Mindy Project and The Newsroom, and made cameo appearances in the shows Community and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. He also served as a consulting producer for the first season of The Mindy Project.
Novak is set to star in his upcoming thriller Vengeance, of which he is also the writer and director. Filming began in March 2020 but was put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In May 2020, it was announced that Novak would be writing and executive producing an upcoming show entitled “Young People” on HBO Max. He has also written, directed and executive produced an upcoming half-hour anthological series called Platform, to be released on FX in 2021.
Novak in September 2013
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 slated 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, which was released on September 30, 2014. As of January 2021, The Book With No Pictures has spent a total of 174 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller Picture Books List since its release, with 34 weeks charting as the #1 seller in the United States. Its most recent listing was at #10 in September 2020. A self-proclaimed lifelong lover of books, Novak has 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 story.
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 was nominated for a Webby Award (losing in its category to Beme and Pocket) in 2016. In May 2016, the app was rebranded as ‘li.st’ and became available on the Android platform.
In September 2017, the app was shut down, citing that the growth wasn’t enough to sustain the current product.
Personal life
Novak has a close friendship with Mindy Kaling, whom he met through writing for The Office. The two dated on and off while writing and acting on the show, sometimes mirroring the on-again, off-again nature of the relationship between their respective characters Ryan Howard and Kelly Kapoor. Novak is the godfather of Kaling’s daughter and son.
Bibliography
Books
- Novak, B. J. (February 4, 2014). One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. ISBN 9780385351836.
- Novak, B. J. (September 30, 2014). The Book with No Pictures. Dial Books. ISBN 9780803741713.
- Novak, B. J. (November 19, 2019). My Book with No Pictures. Dial Books. ISBN 9780593111017.
Essays, reporting and other contributions
Publications:
- Novak, B. J. (1998). “My Unhappy Rendezvous with Magical Realism”. The Harvard Lampoon.
- Novak, B. J. (November 4, 2013). “The man who invented the calendar”. Shouts & Murmurs. The New Yorker. 89 (35): 64–65.
- Novak, B. J. (November 28, 2013). “Kellogg’s”. Nautilus (7).
- Novak, B. J. (December 30, 2013). “A Good Problem to Have”. One Story (187).
- Novak, B. J. (January 16, 2014). “Kellogg’s”. Nautilus (9).
- Novak, B. J. (March 2014). “Julie And The Warlord”. Playboy.
- Novak, B. J. (November 2020). “My Unhappy Rendezvous with Magical Realism”. The Harvard Lampoon.
- Novak, B. J. (November 2020). “Gag Gifts”. The Harvard Lampoon.
Novak also has a chapter giving advice in Tim Ferriss’ book Tools of Titans.
Instagram Live:
- Current Mood with John Mayer (February 17, 2019). “Pants”.
- Special Report on Current Mood with John Mayer (April 19, 2020). “Coronavirus”.
Podcast Appearances:
- Weird Adults with Little Esther (December 17, 2012). “32. BJ Novak” (Podcast).
- Id10t with Chris Hardwick (February 3, 2014). “B.J. Novak” (Podcast).
- Ron Bennington Interviews (February 6, 2014). “Unmasked with B.J. Novak” (Podcast).
- The Hollywood Handbook (May 13, 2014). “32. B.J. Novak, Our Close Friend” (Podcast).
- The Tim Ferriss Show (November 25, 2015). “#121: BJ Novak of The Office on Creative Process, Handling Rejection, and Good Comedy” (Podcast).
- Decoder with Nilay Patel (November 25, 2015). “Recode Decode: B.J. Novak and Dev Flaherty, The List App Co-Founders” (Podcast).
- Exactly (January 6, 2017). “BJ Novak: Why Does Dark Comedy Work?” (Podcast).
- The Great Debates (December 20, 2018). “309 — Our Traditional Holiday Gathering With BJ & John” (Podcast).
- The Great Debates (December 25, 2019). “Holiday Special 2019 with Special Guests” (Podcast).
- You Made It Weird with Pete Holmes (January 29, 2020). “B.J. Novak” (Podcast).
- LA Podcast (April 24, 2020). “FREE SAMPLE: The Ten, Episode 1 – BJ Novak” (Podcast).
- Office Ladies (June 24, 2020). “Initiation w/ B.J. Novak and Rainn Wilson” (Podcast).
- The Great Debates (December 31, 2020). “511 – 2020 Holiday Special” (Podcast).
Filmography
Film
Acting credits
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Unaccompanied Minors | Flight Attendant | |
| 2007 | Knocked Up | Unnamed Doctor | |
| 2007 | Reign Over Me | Mr. Fallon | |
| 2009 | Inglourious Basterds | Pfc. Smithson Utivich | |
| 2011 | The Smurfs | Baker Smurf | Voice role |
| 2012 | The Dictator | Uncredited | |
| 2013 | The Internship | Male Interviewer | |
| 2013 | The Smurfs 2 | Baker Smurf | Voice role |
| 2013 | Saving Mr. Banks | Robert B. Sherman | |
| 2014 | The Amazing Spider-Man 2 | Alistair Smythe | |
| 2016 | The Founder | Harry J. Sonneborn | |
| TBA | Vengeance | Ben Manalowitz | Post-production; Writer and director |
Writing/directing credits
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| TBA | Vengeance | Post-production; Writer and director |
Television
Acting credits
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Punk’d | Field Agent | |
| 2005–2013 | The Office | Ryan Howard | 166 Episodes Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2006, 2007) Nominated:
|
| 2013–2016 | The Mindy Project | Jamie | 5 episodes:
|
| 2014 | Community | Mr. Egypt | Season 5, Episode 13 – “Basic Sandwich” (cameo) |
| 2014 | The Newsroom | Lucas Pruit | 4 episodes:
|
| 2015 | Arthur | MC | Season 19, Episode 10 – “The Last Day” (voice) |
| 2016–2018 | Crazy Ex-Girlfriend | Himself | 2 Episodes:
|
Writing credits
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2001–2002 | Raising Dad | Episodes written:
|
| 2005–2012 | The Office | Episodes written:
Writers Guild of America Award for Comedy Series (2006) |
| 2013 | The Mindy Project | Episodes written:
Nominated: Writers Guild of America Award for a New Series (2012) |
| TBA | Platform | Upcoming anthology series on FX |
Directing credits
| Year | Title | Episode | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | The Office | Blackmail webisode series | 4 episodes |
| 2009 | The Office | Season 6, Episode 12 – “Scott’s Tots” | aired December 3, 2009 |
| 2011 | The Office | Season 7, Episode 14 – “The Seminar” | aired January 27, 2011 |
| The Office | Season 8, Episode 1 – “The List” | aired September 22, 2011 | |
| 2012 | The Office | Season 8, Episode 11 – “Trivia” | aired January 12, 2012 |
| 2013 | The Mindy Project | Season 1, Episode 15 – “Mindy’s Minute” | aired February 19, 2013 |
| The Mindy Project | Season 1, Episode 21 – “Santa Fe” | aired April 9, 2013 | |
| TBA | Platform | TBA | Upcoming anthology series on FX |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Group | Award | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Writers Guild of America Awards | New Series | The Office | Nominated |
| Episodic Comedy – for episode “Diversity Day” | Nominated | |||
| Comedy Series | Nominated | |||
| 2006 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series | Won | |
| Writers Guild of America Awards | Comedy Series | Won | ||
| 2007 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series | Won | |
| Emmy Awards | Outstanding Comedy Series | Nominated | ||
| Writers Guild of America Awards | Episodic Comedy – for episode “Local Ad” | Nominated | ||
| Comedy Series | Nominated | |||
| 2008 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series | Nominated | |
| Emmy Awards | Outstanding Comedy Series | Nominated | ||
| Writers Guild of America Awards | Comedy Series | Nominated | ||
| 2009 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series | Nominated | |
| Emmy Awards | Outstanding Comedy Series | Nominated | ||
| Writers Guild of America Awards | Comedy Series | Nominated | ||
| Prism Award | Performance in a Comedy Series | Nominated | ||
| 2010 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series | Nominated | |
| Emmy Awards | Outstanding Comedy Series | Nominated | ||
| Writers Guild of America Awards | Comedy Series | Nominated | ||
| 2011 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series | Nominated | |
| Emmy Awards | Outstanding Comedy Series | Nominated | ||
| 2012 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series | Nominated | |
| 2012 | Writers Guild of America Awards | New Series | The Mindy Project | Nominated |