B.J. Novak

B.J. Novak Biography

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).

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B.J. Novak Movies

The Devil Wears Prada 2

Showtimes & Tickets

The Devil Wears Prada 2 Red Carpet World Premiere

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Where to Watch

Comedy Warriors: Healing Through Humor

Where to Watch Cast & Crew

Saving Mr. Banks

Where to Watch

B.J. Novak TV Shows

B.J. Novak Videos

2:27

'Vengeance' Trailer

2:31

'The Founder' Trailer (2016)

B.J. Novak Quotes

Summarizing a Challenging Business Situation

Harry J. Sonneborn: So to summarize, you have a minuscule revenue stream. No cash reserves. And an albatross of a contract that requires you to go through a slow approval process to enact changes if they're approved at all.

Ray Kroc: Which they never are.

Harry J. Sonneborn: Am I missing anything?

Ray Kroc: That about sums it up.

Harry J. Sonneborn: Tell me about the land.

Ray Kroc: The... land?

Harry J. Sonneborn: The land, the buildings, how that whole aspect of it works.

Ray Kroc: Oh, pretty simple really. Franchisee finds a piece of land he likes. Gets a lease, usually 20 years. Takes out a construction loan, throws up a building and off he goes.

Harry J. Sonneborn: So the operator selects the site.

Ray Kroc: Yeah.

Harry J. Sonneborn: He picks the property?

Ray Kroc: Right.

Harry J. Sonneborn: You provide the training, the system, the operational know-how, and he's responsible for the rest?

Ray Kroc: Is there a problem?

Harry J. Sonneborn: A big one. You don't seem to realize what business you're in. You're not in the burger business. You're in the real estate business. You don't build an empire off a 1.4 percent cut of a 15-cent hamburger. You build it by owning the land upon which that burger is cooked. What you ought to be doing is buying up plots of land then turning around and leasing said plots to franchisees who as a condition of their deal, should be permitted to lease from you and you alone. This will provide you with two things. One, a steady, up-front revenue stream. Money flows in before the first stake is in the ground. Two, greater capital for expansion. Which in turn fuels further land acquisition, which in turn fuels further expansion and so on and so on. Land. That's where the money is.