B.J. Novak Biography

Benjamin Joseph Manaly Novak was born in Newton, Massachusetts. His most notable role was as Ryan Howard on the hit show The Office (2005). He has two younger brothers: Jesse and Lev.

B.J. went to Newton South High School and was classmates with his future The Office co-star, John Krasinski.

He studied English and Spanish literature at Harvard University and was a member of The Harvard Lampoon, the school's official humor publication.

After graduating, B.J. moved to California to pursue stand-up comedy, performing in clubs around Los Angeles. He was a writer for the sitcom Raising Dad (2001) starring Bob Saget, Kat Dennings, and Brie Larson, however the show didn’t last very long.

His first acting credit was on the hidden-camera celebrity prank show Punk’d (2003), hosted by Ashton Kutcher.

Screenwriter and producer Greg Daniels caught one of B.J.'s comedy routines and wanted to work with him. This resulted in B.J. being cast as Ryan Howard on The Office in 2005. Along with being a cast member, he was also a writer for the show. He was bumped up to executive producer during the seventh season, even directing a couple episodes. He left The Office during its ninth season, but returned for the series finale.

B.J. had small roles in the movies Unaccompanied Minors (2006), Knocked Up (2007) and Reign Over Me (2007), but went on to earn bigger roles in the films Inglorious Bastards (2009), Saving Mr. Banks (2013), and The Founder (2016).

He voiced Baker Smurf in both The Smurfs (2011) and its sequel, The Smurfs 2 (2013).

B.J. appeared on a few episodes of The Mindy Project (2013), where he doubled as a consulting producer for the show's first season, and he also played Lucas on HBO's The Newsroom (2014).

In 2021, B.J. was behind the anthology series, The Premise (2021) for FX, serving as a writer, director, and executive producer.

In addition to his film work, B.J. is also an author. In 2014, his first book, One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories, a collection of fiction stories, was published. His second book, The Book With No Pictures, which is geared towards children, was also published in 2014. He released an interactive companion book for The Book With No Pictures, allowing young readers to fill in the blanks and craft their own stories.

After several years away from the big screen, B.J. returned with the starring role in Vengeance (2022), a mystery-comedy film about a podcaster covering the death of a girl he hooked up with in the past. Originally slated to premiere in 2020, its production was delayed due to COVID-19. B.J. starred, wrote, and directed the film.

He has been nominated for many awards, including five Emmys for his work on The Office. He and his castmates from The Office won two Screen Actors Guild Awards, one in 2006 and again in 2007, for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series. The show also won a Writer's Guild of America for Comedy Series in 2006.

B.J. had an on-again off-again relationship with Mindy Kaling, resembling the dating pattern of their characters from The Office. To this day, they are a big part of each other's lives. B.J. is the godfather of both of Mindy's children.

Filmography:

Vengeance (2022)
The Founder (2016)
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)
Saving Mr. Banks (2013)
The Smurfs 2 (2013)
The Internship (2013)
The Smurfs (2011)
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Reign Over Me (2007)
Knocked Up (2007)
Unaccompanied Minors (2006)