B. J. Novak
Benjamin Joseph Manaly Novak is an American actor, writer, comedian, and director. Novak was one of the writers and executive producers of The Office, in which he also played Ryan Howard. He also appeared as PFC Smithson "The Little Man" Utivich in the film Inglourious Basterds, Robert B. Sherman in Saving Mr. Banks, and Harry J. Sonneborn in The Founder.
Early life
Novak was born July 31, 1979, in Newton, Massachusetts. His parents are Linda 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; his parents also established a Jewish matchmaking service. 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 for several summers when he was a teenager.
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. 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.
''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.Novak plays a character who goes through ups and downs throughout his work career and has an on and off relationship with Kelly Kapoor.
Novak was not only a cast member on the show but 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 fifteen 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. 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 appeared in the films Unaccompanied Minors, Reign Over Me, The Internship, Knocked Up, The Smurfs, and The Amazing Spider-Man 2.He has had supporting roles in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, John Lee Hancock's Saving Mr. Banks, and The Founder.
He has starred in episodes of The Mindy Project, The Newsroom, Community, and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.
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 fictional collection of Woody Allen-like 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 NYT Hardcover Fiction Bestsellers List. Novak also signed a deal with Penguin's children's books label and wrote The Book With No Pictures, which was released in September 2014 and has spent four full years on the New York Times Picture Books list, with 34 weeks charting as the #1 seller in the United States.
In May 2015, it was announced that Novak and Mindy Kaling had signed a book deal worth a reported $7.5 million to write about their long friendship and former relationship, though Kaling said in an interview that the book would "not be a tell-all."
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 has since been nominated for a Webby Award and in May 2016 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. He served as a consulting producer for Season 1 of The Mindy Project, and has appeared on the show several times, though his formal producing role ended after the first season. Novak is the godfather of Kaling's daughter.In March 2020, Novak told podcaster Pete Holmes that he might someday run for Mayor of Los Angeles.
Books
Essays, reporting and other contributions
- "Pants" on Current Mood with John Mayer. Aired: 2/17/19.
- ”Coronavirus" Special Report on Current Mood with John Mayer. Aired: April 19, 2020
Filmography
| Year | Title | Notes |
| 2001–2002 | Raising Dad | 2 episodes |
| 2005–2012 | ' | Episodes written:
Nominated: Writers Guild of America Award for a Comedy Series Nominated: Writers Guild of America Award for a New Series Nominated: Writers Guild of America Award for an Episodic Comedy |
| 2013 | ' | 2 episodes |