{"id":650330,"date":"2026-05-05T23:30:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T23:30:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/650330\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T23:30:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T23:30:19","slug":"devil-wears-prada-villain-bj-novak-is-leaning-into-the-let-them-theory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/650330\/","title":{"rendered":"Devil Wears Prada Villain BJ Novak Is Leaning Into the Let Them Theory"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tWhen BJ Novak<\/a> books a supporting role in a film or a guest spot on a television series, he\u2019s often asked to bring a selection of his own clothes to wear on camera \u2014 so, he figured he\u2019d do the same on The Devil Wears Prada 2<\/a><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI showed up to the wardrobe department on my first day having brought my own things,\u201d says Novak. \u201cThen I walk into this two-story warehouse that every designer in the world has been flooding them with requests.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tTo be clear, Novak does not get to play a fashionista in the comedy. Twenty years after the first film, the sequel finds the publishing house behind the fictional Runway magazine at a bit of a crisis point. And his character, the company\u2019s scion, is very quickly put at odds against the still-intimidating editor Miranda Priestly (played by, of course, Meryl Streep<\/a>). Adding to the tension between the two characters, Novak almost exclusively wears tech apparel and athleisure and rarely looks up from his phone. \u201cAt least it was a very comfortable wardrobe,\u201d adds Novak.<\/p>\n

\n\tThis high-profile supporting gig is a departure for the actor-writer, who most recently starred in his feature directorial debut \u2014 the 2022 black comedy Vengeance. He hasn\u2019t taken on much acting work of late. He\u2019s been busy growing a niche food empire<\/a> and writing best-selling children\u2019s books. He\u2019s always threatening (his word) to return to stand-up, and he and his close friend Mindy Kaling<\/a> have even joked about starting a podcast.<\/p>\n

\n\tSpeaking for the better part of an hour in mid-April, Novak seems to be signaling with his villain turn in The Devil Wears Prada 2 that he\u2019s open to more acting gigs than Hollywood might expect. He\u2019s still a writer. He just has a broader definition of the word than most.<\/p>\n

\n\tAre you a fashion person, or was this all kind of a novelty to you?<\/p>\n

\n\tI didn\u2019t realize how much I didn\u2019t know. I\u2019ve since been confronted with that. I\u2019m from Boston, which is not a very fashion-forward place. And I play a character in the movie who is such an offensively dressed outsider to the fashion world, so I think that probably was good casting.<\/p>\n

How would you describe the Boston aesthetic?<\/p>\n

\n\tPeople sort of dress like Fisher-Price characters: the dad, the construction worker, the mail person, man, woman. It\u2019s more like that, which is thought of as all you need. But Mindy\u2019s from Boston, too, and she went the complete fashion route.<\/p>\n

\n\tI\u2019d argue that you are now canonically, across two films, the worst-dressed character in The Devil Wears Prada franchise.<\/p>\n

\n\tThat\u2019s an honor. It\u2019s great to stand out, to have a strong character choice made for you. So yes, I think that\u2019s a great distinction.<\/p>\n

\n\tWe\u2019re speaking just after you went to the New York premiere, which was big even by film premiere standards. Do you enjoy that part of the job?<\/p>\n

\n\tI overthink everything, so I have a hundred theories and perspectives on how to be. I should just relax and enjoy it. These people who I had a great time with on set, I\u2019m like, \u201cOh, well, now are they in movie star mode? Do they want to talk to their agent? Do they want to talk to their family?\u201d I stuck to myself and hung out with my family and friends.<\/p>\n

\n\tYou obviously wear many hats, so to speak, but I\u2019d argue that a lot of your for-hire acting work was earlier in your career \u2014\u00a0back around Inglorious Basterds. You do a lot of projects that are self-generated or reunions with past collaborators. Did you seek this project out?<\/p>\n

\n\tThis was Aline Brosh McKenna<\/a>, a friend of mine and the screenwriter and producer of the movie. I think she\u2019s a big fan of writer-actors. I got a text from her that just said, \u201cLet me know what you think!\u201d I was like, \u201cDid she text the wrong person?\u201d Then I thought, \u201cOh man, she probably has some pilot that she\u2019s stuck on that she\u2019s trying to pass off onto me.\u201d The next day she texts again, \u201cDo you hear from your agent yet?\u201d Finally she picks up the phone and she\u2019s like, \u201cIt\u2019s The Devil Wars Prada 2. You play so-and-so. All of your scenes are with Meryl Streep. Everyone already approved you. We shoot in the summer in New York, Milan and Lake Como.\u201d This is an insane phone call. This is not generally the call you get.<\/p>\n

\n\tHow much are you putting yourself out there to act?<\/p>\n

\n\tAline asked me something like that: \u201cDon\u2019t you want to act more?\u201d What am I supposed to do? Stare at my phone harder? People will call. I get sent stuff and I read it sometimes. Maybe if I really made acting a pursuit. \u2026 Like, a lot of actors, they\u2019ll go shoot something in Slovenia for three months just to keep busy. I have so much writing. I\u2019m really a writer. I write all the time. I\u2019d say my role model would be someone like Rob Reiner. He was a director, but whenever he acted, he was awesome. People knew who he was. Or Sydney Pollack or Greta Gerwig. These are directors and they\u2019re great actors when someone calls on them. So I\u2019d love to do that, but I don\u2019t get so many requests.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs someone who has already just described themselves as an overthinker, is there any psychological crisis associated with having to talk down to Meryl Streep on camera?<\/p>\n

\n\tYeah, I really had to psych myself up. When I got this role, my emotion was to just be in awe of the greatest actor of all time and in one of her best roles ever and just sort of enjoy the ride. No. If you really respect this person, you need to give her the best scene partner that you possibly can. You have to put all that aside and then enjoy it after the day is wrapped. She is so much fun. Comedy people gravitate towards each other. And, on set, I got the sense that she\u2019s a comedy person in some way. It was so much fun for me. But, in general, when I went into that mode, I just didn\u2019t allow myself to indulge in the reverence because she deserves better. But it was very fun to walk into a movie where not only is this character the worst dressed but has the least respect for this person that anyone\u2019s ever expressed.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tMeryl Streep and BJ Novak in The Devil Wears Prada 2.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe Walt Disney Company<\/p>\n

\n\tYou wrote, directed and starred in Vengeance a few years back. How did tackling something that large inform what you think you might want to do in the future?<\/p>\n

\n\tI learned that I really see everything in terms of writing. If I\u2019m directing, I\u2019m just writing with the camera, writing with the score, writing with the actors. I think writing is the wrong word for writing. It\u2019s really composing, imagining, executing a vision. It has so little to do with spelling or grammar or the things that intimidate people out of writing.<\/p>\n

\n\tRebranding writing might be a good way to future-proof it, at least in respect to AI. You could lead the marketing campaign. <\/p>\n

\n\tI would like to! Honestly, whether or not it\u2019s AI-related, I do find so many people say, \u201cOh, I\u2019m not a writer.\u201d It\u2019s because they got a bad spelling test in fourth grade. I\u2019m serious. And they\u2019ve always thought, \u201cWell, I\u2019m bad at this. \u201d Handwriting, spelling, putting words on paper \u2026 that is so little of it. There are so many people that are good at those parts and are really boring. It deserves a rebrand.<\/p>\n

\n\tI read you reference your first children\u2019s book, The Book With No Pictures, as the project that you\u2019ve made the most money from. Is that true?<\/p>\n

\n\tThat\u2019s probably true. But it\u2019s the one I thought about money least as I was making it \u2014\u00a0which is a nice lesson. It doesn\u2019t always work out that way.<\/p>\n

\n\tI realize you have a second, but are there more children\u2019s books in you?<\/p>\n

\n\tI want to do a lot more in that space. Kids being funny isn\u2019t unlocked enough. Not enough people are doing it right. So, yeah, I love that stuff. I have more coming.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe FX show you created, The Premise, had an episode about Lola Kirke playing a woman sort of undone by a negative comment about her online. I was going to watch it before we spoke, but the whole series was wiped from streaming when that was happening a lot a few years back. How was that decision communicated to you?<\/p>\n

\n\tIt just disappeared. And there are no hard copies of something like that. I don\u2019t know where it is or where it went. I don\u2019t even remember how I heard that. I think I got a text from an actor that just said, \u201cHey, I can\u2019t find it.\u201d And then a tweet online, like, \u201cHey, is there any way I can view this? I was telling someone about it and I realized it wasn\u2019t there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDo you have any digital copies of your own?<\/p>\n

\n\tI don\u2019t think so. I like to think I could track it down if I needed it. Come to think of it, I don\u2019t know. Maybe they did it for my own good.<\/p>\n

\n\tIs there a lesson in that? Hollywood has changed so dramatically since you started working in this system. Streaming shows still get raptured all the time.<\/p>\n

\n\tThat is one area I\u2019d probably underthink what is happening and what to do about it. I feel a weird optimism that if you make good things and you\u2019re inspired, that there\u2019s always a market for that. Some scheming individual will find a way to make a profit on whatever will entertain people. I\u2019m optimistic about the changing digital landscape and distribution channels and everything. It\u2019s like the food industry. If there\u2019s a human need and people are making that thing, the economics will eventually find their way. That is probably naive.<\/p>\n

\n\tYou are in the food business with Chain, which recently sold a stake to Fox Entertainment<\/a>. Maybe I\u2019m being ignorant, but that seemed like strange bedfellows to me. What are the intended fruits of that deal? What do you want them to be?<\/p>\n

\n\tWe\u2019ll see where it goes. Chain really started as a funny idea. What if you could make these Michelin gourmet versions of the kind of food people really like eating. I really like eating that stuff. Eventually it got popular, and I think people heard about it. Gordon Ramsay has had such success with Fox. It really is about the Gordon Ramsay aspect of it. They got in our business with him to figure out something to do with Chain.<\/p>\n

\n\tBack to that episode of The Premise. You said at the time that this character obsessed with a negative comment was the closest proxy to you in that series. Have you ever been that online? <\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s definitely something I could identify with. I used to read comments in the early days. Everyone has this experience, one way or another: You hear one negative thing even amidst many positive things, and it\u2019s the one thing that you can\u2019t shake. Why? Is that what we are hoping to hear, even though it\u2019s what we are fearing? You can sometimes feel understood, right or wrong, by a negative comment in a way that a positive one will just go right by you. The idea for this was someone who feels that only their hater understands them.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen did you learn to not read the comments?<\/p>\n

\n\tYou play with fire, you get burned. You see something that not only is it mean \u2014\u00a0but maybe you think it\u2019s funny or it\u2019s smart, you agree with it. Then I thought, \u201cWhy am I doing this to myself?\u201d The book Let Them had not come out. If I had read Let Them, that would\u2019ve changed my life back then.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tBJ Novak<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJulian Ungano<\/p>\n

\n\tLet Them kind of changed the way I approached a few things in my life.<\/p>\n

\n\tI love Let Them. And I also like when Mel Robbins goes on talk shows she\u2019ll even say, \u201cYou might think you know the whole book just from the title. Maybe you do? You don\u2019t need to buy it!\u201d That made me want to buy it. <\/p>\n

\n\tEven if you\u2019re less online, I\u2019m sure you\u2019re still aware that the internet is rather obsessed with your friendship with Mindy Kaling.<\/p>\n

\n\tRight.<\/p>\n

\n\tJust a casual google of you before our conversation, every pull from you on the red carpet or your appearance on Andy Cohen\u2019s show \u2026 it\u2019s about you and Mindy. Have the two of you tried to diagnose this public fascination? It\u2019s lovely, but it seems like a lot. <\/p>\n

\n\tI totally know it. That\u2019s a great example of, \u201cLet them.\u201d They ask me about my life, I answer, and that\u2019s the only thing they want to write a story about? Let them. I\u2019m not going to tell someone that question is off limits. Let them.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cLet them\u201d could be the new \u201cno comment.\u201c<\/p>\n

\n\tWow. Maybe I\u2019ll start using that.<\/p>\n

\n\tYou\u2019ve been spending more time in New York, where the comedy club culture is a bit bigger and definitely lasts later in the evening than in Los Angeles. Does that have you thinking more about getting back into stand-up? Because you\u2019ve teased that a lot over the years.<\/p>\n

\n\tConstantly. I\u2019m always threatening to do it \u2014\u00a0 testing material on friends, writing stuff down. It\u2019s a lot to jump into. It\u2019s has been years, but it stays with me the whole next day. I don\u2019t know if other comics feel this way \u2026 but if I did well on Thursday and I\u2019m back up on Saturday, I\u2019m feeling great till Saturday. If I do badly on Saturday, I feel bad until I\u2019m back up on Wednesday. I carry it with me emotionally all week. But if I\u2019m going to really commit to getting back into it, I\u2019m going to be bad at first. And it\u2019s a lot. But I really do miss being funny.<\/p>\n

\n\tI\u2019m not telling you something you don\u2019t already know, but you\u2019ve also lost the ability to be anonymously bad. People will go in with expectations. <\/p>\n

\n\tI know. It\u2019s bad in every way. I can suck on stage and that could be completely true, but it\u2019s not fair to judge someone on their first show. That sucks. Also, if you\u2019re really funny or say things that are dark or too far, and that gets recorded, there\u2019s no distinction anymore between that and an interview quote. It\u2019s a pull quote. Pete Davidson is a really good stand-up. Whatever he says on stage, any headline can use that. People take that out of context.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnything can be a pull quote now. Podcasts used to be safe, but that now that\u2019s all clip fodder.<\/p>\n

\n\tMindy and I talk about doing a podcast sometimes, and I told her the title should be, This Quote Is Taken Out of Context. So anytime they quote anything from it, they have to say that.<\/p>\n

\n\tGoing back to your comment about waiting for the phone to call for acting work. This many years in your career, do you feel the industry understands what you bring to the table and what to do with you?<\/p>\n

\n\tI think it\u2019s everyone\u2019s responsibility to make their own fate and prove themselves. Nothing has been handed to anybody. I\u2019m very lucky that I can self-generate work. That is on me. So, probably, they don\u2019t know what to do with me. Let them!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When BJ Novak books a supporting role in a film or a guest spot on a television series,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":650331,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[241581,49,48,75,12945,118238,32043],"class_list":["post-650330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-bj-novak","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-meryl-streep","tag-mindy-kaling","tag-the-devil-wears-prada-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=650330"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650330\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/650331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=650330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=650330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=650330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}