B.J. Novak Biography

Benjamin Joseph Manaly "B. J." Novak (born July 31, 1979) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, screenwriter, and director. He is best known for being a writer and co-executive producer for and playing the role of Ryan Howard on The Office, as well as appearing in Inglourious Basterds.

Early life

Novak was born and raised in Newton, Massachusetts, the son of Linda (née Manaly) and author William Novak. He attended Brown middle school and Newton South High School. Novak's family is Jewish. His father co-edited The Big Book of Jewish Humor, and has ghostwritten memoirs for Nancy Reagan, Lee Iacocca, and others; his parents also established a Jewish matchmaking service. Novak has two younger brothers, Jesse, a composer, and Lev, a recent graduate student at Tufts University. He attended Newton South High School with future Office costar John Krasinski, and they graduated in 1997. Novak attended Harvard University, where he was a member of the Harvard Lampoon and the Hasty Pudding Club. He majored in English and Spanish literature after writing a thesis on Hollywood responses to Shakespeare. In addition to the Lampoon, he occasionally staged and performed in a variety show called The B.J. Show with fellow Harvard student B. J. Averell. Novak wrote his honors thesis on the films of Shakespeare's Hamlet.

Career

Novak graduated from Harvard University in 2001. Afterward he moved to Los Angeles, California and began working in clubs as a comedian. His first live stand-up performance took place on October 10, 2001, at the Hollywood Youth Hostel. 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 has also 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, and has played pranks on Hilary Duff, Rachael Leigh Cook, Usher, and Mýa.

After hearing Novak's opening joke at a comedy club, executive producer Greg Daniels immediately decided to include Novak in his upcoming project: a U.S. version of the hit British series The Office. Novak was cast as Ryan Howard, becoming the first cast member. 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 a full executive producer midway through Season 7 and also direct two episodes of the show, as well as becoming the latest cast member to also have a deal with NBC to develop other shows. 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 Krasinski from high school. Isn't that weird?"

In addition to his television credits, Novak has appeared in the films Unaccompanied Minors, Reign Over Me, Knocked Up and Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds. He will appear in the upcoming films Saving Mr. Banks and The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

On April 11, 2013, 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.

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 characters, Ryan Howard and Kelly Kapoor. Novak serves as a consulting producer for Kaling's show, The Mindy Project.

Filmography

As actor

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2003	Punk'd	Field Agent	TV series
2005"2012, 2013	The Office	Ryan Howard	Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2006, 2007) Nominated: Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2008) Nominated: Prism Award for Best performance in a Comedy Series (2009)
2006	Unaccompanied Minors	Flight Attendant
2007	Reign Over Me	Mr. Fallon
	Knocked Up	Unnamed Doctor
2009	Inglourious Basterds	Pfc. Smithson Utivich	Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2011	The Smurfs	Baker Smurf
2012	The Dictator
2013	The Mindy Project	Jaime	(3 episodes)
2013	The Internship	Male Interviewer
2013	Saving Mr. Banks	Robert Sherman
2014	The Amazing Spider-Man 2	Unknown

As writer

Year	Title	Notes
2001"2002	Raising Dad	2 episodes
2005"2012	The Office	Episodes written: Diversity Day (March 29, 2005) - Season 1 Sexual Harassment (September 27, 2005) - Season 2 The Fire (October 11, 2005) - Season 2 Boys and Girls (February 2, 2006) - Season 2 Initiation (October 19, 2006) - Season 3 Safety Training (April 12, 2007) - Season 3 Local Ad (October 25, 2007) - Season 4 Chair Model (April 17, 2008) - Season 4 Prince Family Paper (January 22, 2009) - Season 5 Dream Team (April 9, 2009) - Season 5 Happy Hour (March 25, 2010) - Season 6 Counseling (September 30, 2010) - Season 7 Threat Level Midnight (February 17, 2011) - Season 7 The List (September 22, 2011) - Season 8 Free Family Portrait Studio (May 10, 2012) - Season 8 Writers Guild of America Award for Comedy Series (2006) Nominated: Writers Guild of America Award for a Comedy Series (2005, 2007, 2008) Nominated: Writers Guild of America Award for a New Series (2005) Nominated: Writers Guild of America Award for an Episodic Comedy (2005, 2007)
2013	The Mindy Project	1 episode

As director

Year	Title	Notes
2009	The Office " Blackmail webisode series	4 episodes
2009	The Office " Scott's Tots	aired 12/03/09
2011	The Office - The Seminar	aired 1/27/11
	The Office - The List	aired 9/22/11
2012	The Office " Trivia	aired 01/12/12
2013	The Mindy Project " Mindy's Minute	aired 02/19/13
2013	"The Mindy Project" - "Santa Fe"	aired 04/09/13

Awards and nominations

Year	Group	Award	Won	Film/Television series
2005	Writers Guild of America Awards	New Series	No	The Office
		Episodic Comedy - for episode Diversity Day	No
		Comedy Series	No
2006	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	Yes
	Writers Guild of America Awards	Comedy Series	Yes
	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Comedy Series	Yes
2007	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	Yes
	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Comedy Series	No
	Writers Guild of America Awards	Episodic Comedy - for episode Local Ad	No
		Comedy Series	No
2008	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	No
	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Comedy Series	No
	Writers Guild of America Awards	Comedy Series	No
2009	Prism Awards	Performance in a Comedy Series	No