The Office star B.J. Novak responds to 'public fascination' with Mindy Kaling relationship

Many fans of The Office will no doubt know about the long-running lore surrounding B.J Novak and Mindy Kaling's relationship.

Novak, 46, starred as Ryan Howard on seasons one through eight of the NBC mockumentary sitcom, whose character had an on-screen on-again-off-again romance with Kaling's character, Kelly Kapoor, also 46.

While he may be best known for The Office, Novak's latest work sees him starring in The Devil Wears Prada 2 as the far less fashionable businessman, Jay Ravitz, compared to his more glamorous co-stars' characters, which include Meryl Streep's return as Miranda Priestley, Emily Blunt as Emily Charlton, Anne Hathaway as Andrea 'Andy' Sachs and Stanley Tucci as Nigel.

In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, which was published earlier this week on Tuesday (5 May), Novak was asked about the 'public fascination' surrounding his relationship with Kaling, which has previously led to a whole load of speculation about them allegedly being together romantically off the screen too.

However, it's important to note that neither party has officially confirmed such speculation.

The interviewer noted that the internet is 'rather obsessed' with Novak and Kaling's relationship, prompting the actor to reply: "Right."

B.J. Novak has opened up about his friendship with his The Office co-star Mindy Kaling (Matt Winkelmeyer/VF25 / Contributor / Getty Images)

"I totally know it," Novak, who is godfather to one of Kaling's children, acknowledged, adding: "That’s a great example of, 'Let them.' They ask me about my life, I answer, and that’s the only thing they want to write a story about? Let them. I’m not going to tell someone that question is off limits. Let them."

He also later added that he and Kaling 'talk about doing a podcast sometimes', joking: "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."

Elsewhere in the interview, Novak opened up a little more about his personal relationship with style, telling the outlet: "I didn’t realise how much I didn’t know. I’ve since been confronted with that.

The internet is 'rather obsessed' with Novak and Kaling's friendship (Cindy Ord/VF23 / Contributor / Getty Images)

"I’m 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."

Describing the 'Boston aesthetic', Novak added: "People sort of dress like Fisher-Price characters: the dad, the construction worker, the mail person, man, woman. It’s more like that, which is thought of as all you need.

"But Mindy’s from Boston, too, and she went the complete fashion route."

The Devil Wears Prada 2 is currently available to watch in selected cinemas.