Over the seven seasons of “The Office” no character has gone through as many transitions as Ryan Howard, played by the show’s co-executive producer, writer and actor B.J. Novak. Starting off as a temp who quickly became known as the Fire Guy, he improbably landed a corporate job at the head office of Dunder-Mufflin where he quickly sent a good chunk of his paycheck up his nose. After bottoming out, he re-teamed with Michael in his fledgling Michael Scott Paper Company before they both returned to their old jobs in Scranton. But Ryan once again changed into an annoying, Americana loving, hipster douchebag who is also the founder of WUHPF. And in all of this of course, is his on-again, off-again volatile relationship with Kelly. Novak hasn’t made too many steps into feature films except for small parts in films like “Knocked Up” and more memorably in Quentin Tarantino‘s “Inglourious Basterds,” but he’s set for another appearance in one of next year’s big comedies.
The Playlist has learned that Novak will take a role in Sacha Baron Cohen‘s “The Dictator.” He joins Ben Kingsley, Jason Mantzoukas, Anna Faris and J.B. Smoove along with Megan Fox and John C. Reilly in the film that will find Cohen taking on two roles as a goat herder and a deposed foreign dictator who gets lost in the United States.
Filming continues in New York City and in case you missed it, some more set photos hit this morning. Larry Charles directs and the film hits theaters on May 11, 2012. [via Collider]