Who is Ryan in The Office?​

The Office is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from 2005 to 2013. The show was filmed in a mockumentary style, highlighting the daily lives of employees at the Scranton branch of the Dunder Mifflin paper company. The show had characters with quirky personalities which added humor to the storyline. Ryan Howard is one of the characters in The Office.

Over the seasons, Ryan went from an ambitious intern to a corporate executive and then a fraudster. He started as a temporary employee at Dunder Mifflin but later became unpredictable and self-centered. He is portrayed as a lazy, sarcastic, and ambitious person. Let’s take a look at Ryan’s character and the actor who plays him.

Who is Ryan in The Office?

Ryan was introduced in the 1st episode of The Office as a temp hired by the corporate office. Unlike other employees, he does not take his job seriously. Michael was always impressed by him and treats him as a mentor would, even though Ryan shows little interest in learning from him. In Season 4, Ryan gets a promotion and moves to the main office. After getting promoted, he changed himself by dressing up stylishly and started acting arrogant toward his ex-coworkers. He also wanted to modernize the company with a digital sales platform, but it was a failed attempt.

His promotion was short-lived, as he was involved in corporate fraud. He manipulated sales numbers to boost the company’s stock value. Eventually, he gets arrested and fired from Dunder Mifflin. After losing everything, Ryan comes back to the Scranton branch as a temp once again. After coming back, he became more distant and made fun of his co-workers. He leaves Dunder Mifflin for a while to work at a bowling alley, comes back with strange business ideas, and later runs away with Kelly in the finale.

His relationship with Kelly Kapoor is an important part of his storyline. Over the seasons, he had an on and off relationship with her. Kelly was obsessed with Ryan, but he was not ready for a committed relationship. Their relationship was toxic, chaotic, and full of drama which added humor in the show. In the series finale, Ryan and Kelly run away together, leaving behind Kelly’s fiancé and Ryan’s baby.

Who plays Ryan in The Office?

B. J. Novak plays Ryan in the show. He is an American actor, writer, comedian, and director, born on July 31, 1979, in Newton, Massachusetts, United States. He graduated from Harvard University in 2001, where he majored in English and wrote for the Harvard Lampoon. After graduating, he pursued a career in comedy, performing stand-up and writing for TV. He started his acting career with MTV’s show Punk'd in 2003.

He gained international popularity for his role as Ryan in the hit show The Office (2005-2013). He was also one of the show's writers and executive producers. His work on the show earned him many Emmy nominations. Apart from The Office, he has appeared in TV shows like The Mindy Project (2013-2016) and The Newsroom (2014). He has also worked in many films like Inglourious Basterds (2009), The Internship (2013), and Saving Mr. Banks (2013). He also voiced Baker Smurf in The Smurfs films.

In 2022, he made his directorial debut with the film Vengeance, which he also wrote and starred in. He has also published 2 books- One More Thing (2014), a collection of short stories, and The Book with No Pictures (2014), a bestselling children's book.

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