Benjamin Joseph Manaly Novak (born July 31, 1979) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, author, and producer. He gained traction as a comedian during the early 2000s before becoming a field agent for the MTV reality prank show Punk'd (2003). Novak had his breakout with a leading role as Ryan Howard on seasons 1–8 of the NBC mockumentary sitcom The Office (2005–2013). His acting, writing and producing for the show earned him two Screen Actors Guild Awards and a Writers Guild of America Award, alongside five nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series. In the late 2000s, Novak had supporting roles in the films Reign Over Me (2007) and Inglourious Basterds (2009). In the 2010s, he portrayed musician Robert B. Sherman in Saving Mr. Banks (2013) and Marvel Comics character Alistair Smythe in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014). He had a starring role as Harry J. Sonneborn in the biographical film The Founder (2016) and voiced Baker Smurf in The Smurfs (2011) and The Smurfs 2 (2013). In television, he had a recurring role as Lucas Pruit on the HBO series The Newsroom (2014). In the 2020s, Novak made his film directorial debut with Vengeance (2022), which he also produced and starred in. He created and wrote the FX on Hulu anthology series The Premise (2021). In addition to his film and television career, Novak authored the books One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories (2014) and The Book with No Pictures (2014). Description above from the Wikipedia article B.J. Novak, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Filmography

• 2026The Devil Wears Prada 2 — Jay
• Lessons in Chemistry — Six-Thirty (voice)
• Poker Face — Hiram Lubinski
• 2022Vengeance — Ben Manalowitz, Writer, Executive Producer, Director
• The Premise — Self - Host, Executive Producer, Director, Writer, Creator
• Home Movie: The Princess Bride — Count Rugen
• 2019Late Night — Thanks
• 2016The Founder — Harry J. Sonneborn
• Crazy Ex-Girlfriend — B.J. Novak
• 2014The Amazing Spider-Man 2 — Allistar Smythe
• 2013Saving Mr. Banks — Robert Sherman
• 2013The Internship — Male Interviewer
• 2013The Smurfs 2 — Baker Smurf (voice)
• 2012The Dictator — (uncredited)
• The Mindy Project — Jamie, Executive Producer, Writer, Director
• The Newsroom — Lucas Pruit
• 2011The Smurfs — Baker Smurf (voice)
• Community — Mr. Egypt
• 2009Inglourious Basterds — PFC. Smithson Utivich
• 2007Knocked Up — Young Doctor
• 2007Reign Over Me — Mr. Fallon
• 2006Farce of the Penguins — I Hope There's Sand Dabs Penguin (voice)
• 2006Unaccompanied Minors — Desk Attendant
• The Office — Ryan Howard, Director, Writer, Executive Story Editor, Co-Producer, Supervising Producer, Executive Producer, Co-Executive Producer
• Punk'd — Field Agent, Self
• Raising Dad — Writer

Appearances as themselves (16)

• Celebrity Jeopardy! — Self - Contestant
• Some Good News — Self
• The Late Show with Stephen Colbert — Self - Guest
• 2014Comedy Warriors: Healing Through Humor — Self - Coach
• Late Night with Seth Meyers — Self
• 2013The Office Retrospective — Self
• 2012The Bitter Buddha — Self
• Conan — Self - Guest
• The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien — Self
• Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen — Self - Guest
• Real Time with Bill Maher — Self
• Live from E! — Self
• The View — Self - Guest
• Late Night with Conan O'Brien — Self - Guest
• The Tonight Show with Jay Leno — Self
• Untitled Mitch Hedberg Documentary — Self