Ryan Howard

Ryan starts out as the office temp, young and visibly uncomfortable being singled out by Michael as a business-school success story to impress. He is polite, guarded, and eager to keep his head down and get through the day, watching the chaos around him with the wary detachment of someone who thinks he's better than this job.

Novak plays Ryan's discomfort as pure deadpan restraint, letting his stiff smiles and sideways glances do the comedy instead of any big reaction. He's the audience's early surrogate, the sane outsider baffled by Scranton's absurdity, which makes his slow, quiet absorption into the group's dynamics so satisfying to watch unfold.