BJ Novak plays Jay Ravitz in The Devil Wears Prada 2, but at the film’s glitzy premiere Monday night at Lincoln Center, the actor said his character is a “problem” for “runway companies.”
When Page Six kindly offered the word “thief” to describe his villainous character, the actor agreed with a laugh.
“That’s a great word, isn’t it?” he exclusively told Us, before warning, “That’s your word, not mine, but it’s a great way to describe him.”
Novak joins the original cast of the 2006 film, with Andy (Anne Hathaway) returning to Runway magazine to help her former boss Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) and her former assistant Emily (Emily Blunt), now the head of a luxury brand, navigate the new media landscape.
However, the 46-year-old actor doesn’t know why he was asked to play such a fascinating character.
“You should ask someone about that,” he said. “They always call me for that. Now that you ask me, why? I guess I don’t know. I go where I’m needed.”
The comedian added that it was “unthinkable” to be upset about being cast as a crooked character.
“I should probably be more aggressive,” he joked, “but I’m happy to have this job and it’s so much fun. It’s so much fun playing these guys.”
Novak, best known for his role as office temp-turned-Dunder Mifflin executive Ryan Howard on The Office and writing many of the show’s classic episodes, confessed that it was “uncomfortable” to look back on the sitcom because he was so young.
“We were very cocky and scared, so I think that balance made us think we could or should do anything,” he explained. “You know what you’re like when you’re young, but later you’re scared. ‘What am I doing?’
“If you want to do a scary job like this, I recommend doing it while you’re young. You don’t have time to worry, you don’t have time for imposter syndrome. Young people don’t have imposter syndrome.”
Novak looked chic wearing what we called Gwyneth Paltrow’s civil suit ski accident glasses and gave us a thumbs up for her pop culture knowledge.
“Oh, that was helpful, thank you,” he replied.
