An American actor raised in Hannibal, Missouri, Cory Novak is the son of Lisa Novak (Pagitt) and Mark Novak. He grew up as the second youngest of 5 brothers: Kyle, Bryan, Tyler, Brady, and Ryan.

While attending Hannibal High School, Novak was involved in sports, Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA), and photography, and branched out into the St. Louis independent film community during his senior year. Eventually, Novak completed the 2-hour drive from Hannibal to St. Louis almost every weekend to take acting and improvisation classes, gaining experience in front of the screen, behind the screen, and on small sets. Novak stayed so involved that he continued doing this while completing his associate’s degree at Moberly Area Community College in Hannibal.

Following this, Novak studied Theatre and Film at the University of Missouri (Mizzou), where he sharpened his acting and filmmaking skills. In addition to acting in several student film projects, Novak performed as one of the leads in the original and award-winning play Irish Rose at Mizzou’s 24-hour play festival. After graduation, Novak was 1 of 16 people throughout the world who were accepted into the Graduate-Level Professional Acting for the Camera Program at UCLA’s School of Theater, Film & Television and recently graduated in June of 2021.