Movies

Benjamin Joseph Manaly Novak (born July 31, 1979) is an American actor, director and screenwriter. He has received five Primetime Emmy Award nominations and won two Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Novak became known for starring as Ryan Howard in the NBC sitcom The Office (2005–2013), for which he also served as a writer and executive producer. He played roles in the films Inglourious Basterds (2009), Saving Mr. Banks (2013), and The Founder (2016). Novak made his directorial debut in 2022 with the dark comedy thriller Vengeance, which he also wrote and starred in.

Novak also appeared in The Mindy Project (2013–2016) and The Newsroom (2014), and was the creator and executive producer of Hulu anthology series The Premise (2021). He portrays Alistair Smythe in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014).

Beyond his film career, Novak authored the acclaimed books One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories (2014) and The Book with No Pictures (2014).

Early life :

Novak was born on 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: Lev Novak and composer Jesse Novak.

He attended Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Boston for elementary school. For middle school he attended Brown 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. 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.