Benjamin McKenzie Biography

Benjamin McKenzie Schenkkan (born September 12, 1978), known professionally as Benjamin McKenzie or Ben McKenzie, is an American actor and producer. He is known for playing Ryan Atwood in the television series The O.C. and for playing Ben Sherman in Southland. He appeared in the films Junebug and 88 Minutes which earned him a Sarasota Film Festival nomination. His first starring role in a feature film was in the 2008 indie release Johnny Got His Gun which garnered excellent reviews for his solo performance.

Early life

McKenzie was born Benjamin McKenzie Schenkkan, in Austin, Texas, to Mary Frances (Victory), a prize-winning poet, and Pieter Meade Schenkkan. He is a nephew of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Robert Schenkkan, and a second cousin of actress Sarah Drew. His younger brother Nate is a Yale graduate working in avant-garde theater in New York. His youngest brother Zack is the current Editor-in-Chief of the UCLA Law Review. McKenzie's paternal grandfather had Dutch Jewish ancestry; he was the son of Flora and Joseph Schenkkan, who were immigrants from Amsterdam. The rest of McKenzie's ancestry includes English and Scottish. He changed his name for screen-credit purposes because there is an actor named Ben Schenkken registered with the Screen Actors Guild.

For middle school, he attended St. Andrew's Episcopal School, where he was friends and teammates with future Super Bowl MVP Drew Brees. He then attended Austin High School, and played wide receiver and defensive back for the school's football team. From 1997-2001, he attended the University of Virginia, where he majored in Foreign Affairs and Economics.

Career

On August 5, 2003, Fox premiered the television series The O.C., about affluent teenagers with stormy personal lives who reside in scenic Orange County, California. The show became an overnight success and it put McKenzie on the map as Ryan Atwood. McKenzie's performance in The O.C. earned him a "Choice Breakout TV Star - Male" and "Choice TV Chemistry" nominations in The Teen Choice Awards and a "Choice TV Actor - Drama/Action Adventure" and "Choice TV Actor: Drama" wins. McKenzie reportedly earned about $15,000 and $25,000 per episode throughout the show's run.

As a result of the show's success, McKenzie appeared in magazines including People, In Touch Weekly and Us Weekly. McKenzie was ranked No. 5 in Independent Online's "100 Sexiest Men Alive", was twice placed on Teen People magazine's annual list of "25 Sexiest Stars under 25". He was also voted one of InStyle's "10 Hottest Bachelors Of Summer" in July 2005. The O.C. dropped in ratings dramatically during its third and fourth seasons, and ended in early 2007.

While appearing in The O.C., McKenzie made his feature film debut in Junebug alongside Amy Adams and Embeth Davidtz. The film was nominated for "Best International Film" and "Outstanding Ensemble Acting" in the Amanda Awards and won the Sarasota Film Festival award for "Outstanding Ensemble Acting". It also received high praise at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. According to Production Weekly, McKenzie was set to star in the thriller Snakes On A Plane, formerly known as Pacific Air 121, but later dropped out to film 88 Minutes, which starred Al Pacino.

In 2008, McKenzie earned critical acclaim for his solo performance in the "live on stage, on film" version of Dalton Trumbo's 1939 novel Johnny Got His Gun, his first starring role in a feature film. He stars as Joe Bonham, a role previously played by James Cagney, Jeff Daniels, and Timothy Bottoms. The movie premiered at the Paramount Theater in Austin, TX, McKenzie's hometown, while he was filming the pilot for Southland.

In 2009, he appeared on the short movie, The Eight Percent. The movie won the Delta Air Lines Fly-in Movie Contest and entered as an official selection on the Tribeca Film Festival's Short film category.

He stars as rookie police officer Ben Sherman on the NBC drama Southland, which premiered on April 9, 2009. The show was canceled while in production on its second season.TNT bought the rights for the show and showed the 7 episodes that had been produced. The show was subsequently renewed. However, the show was once again cancelled after the fifth season.

Personal life

Ben has remained a friend of fellow actors, and one time O.C. co-stars, Adam Brody and Paul Wesley. Ben adopted a rescue dog found by a friend in 2007, a brown and white pit bull named Oscar, after a character in The Odd Couple. McKenzie has dated various unidentified women, keeping very low-profile relationships.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2005	Junebug	Johnny Johnsten	Amanda Award for Outstanding Performance In Feature Film
2007	88 Minutes	Mike Stempt	Sarasota Film Festival Award for Outstanding Ensemble Acting
2008	Johnny Got His Gun	Joe Bonham
2008	Every Monday Matters	Himself	Documentary film
2009	The Eight Percent	John Keller	Short film
2011	The Blisters: How Three Became Four	Dave	Also producer
2011	Batman: Year One	Bruce Wayne / Batman	DC Original Animated Movie (voice only)
2011	Sin Bin	Michael
2012	Goodbye World
2012	Decoding Annie Parker	Tom
2013	The Advocates		TV film, filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2002	The District	Tim Ruskin	Episode 3.05: "Faith"
2003	JAG	Petty Officer Spencer	Episode 8.17: "Empty Quiver"
2003"2007	The O.C.	Ryan Atwood	Lead Role Nominated " Teen Choice Award for Choice Breakout TV Star Male (2004) Nominated " Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Actor: Drama/Action/Adventure (2004) Nominated " Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Actor: Drama (2005) Nominated " Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Chemistry (2005; shared with Mischa Barton)
2004	MADtv	Ryan Atwood	1 episode
2004	Punk'd	Himself	1 episode
2009"2013	Southland	Ben Sherman	Main Cast
2011	Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated	Odnarb	Episode 1.15: "The Wild Brood" (voice only)
2013	Men at Work	Bryan	Episode 2.06: "Tyler the Pioneer"

Awards

Year	Award	Group	Result	Film/TV show
2004	Teen Choice Award	Choice TV Chemistry		The O.C.
		Choice Breakout TV Star - Male
		Choice TV Show: Drama/Action/Adventure
		Choice TV Actor: Drama
		Choice Breakout TV Show
	TCA Awards	Outstanding New Program
2005	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actor: Drama/Action/Adventure
		Choice Breakout TV Star - Male
		Choice TV Chemistry (with Mischa Barton)
	Logie Awards	Most Popular Overseas Program
	BMI Awards	Outstanding Performance in TV series
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Show: Drama
	CMI Cable Awards	Breakthrough performance in TV series
	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Television Drama
2006	Sarasota Film Festival	Outstanding Ensemble Acting		88 Minutes
	Teen Choice Awards	TV - Choice Drama/Action/Adventure Show		The O.C.
2007	Amanda (award)	Outstanding Performance in Feature Film		Junebug
	Prism Awards	Performance in a Drama Series Episode		The O.C.
	BRAVO Gold Otto (Germany)	Best Male Actor

Further reading

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