Benjamin McKenzie
Benjamin McKenzie (Role) : Ryan Atwood
Birthday : September-12-1978
Birthplace : Austin, Texas, USA
Birth Name : Benjamin McKenzie Schenkkan
AKA : Benjamin McKenzie
Recent Role : Himself on The Ellen DeGeneres Show
Gender : Male
Benjamin McKenzie is also known as Benjamin McKenzie Schenkkan. Her mother Mary Frances Victory was prize winning poet and his father is named Pieter Meade Schenkkan. He has a close relationship with Robert Schenkkan, a Pulitzer Prize winning playwright. He is the second cousin of Sarah Drew, an actress. He has two brothers, Nate and Zack. Nate works in avant-grade theater in New York and Zack is a Pomona College alumni.
While attending Austin High School, he played wide receiver and defensive back for school’s football team. Later, Benjamin attended the University of Virginia majoring in Foreign affairs and Economics. At the SoHo Rep, he appeared off-Broadway in ‘Life is a Dream’. At the Williamstown Theatre Festival, he played in ‘Street Scene’ and ‘The Blue Bird’ etc. While studying at the University of Virginia, he performed in ‘Measure for Measure’ and ‘Zoo Story’. In late 2001, Benjamin moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting. After he moved to Los Angeles, he got a role on ‘The OC’. For his excellent performance on ‘The OC’, Benjamin
earned “Choice Breakout TV Star – Male” and “Choice TV Chemistry” nominations in The Teen Choice Awards and also the “Choice TV Actor – Drama/Action Adventure” and “Choice TV Actor: Drama” award nominations. In 2007, he was seen in ‘Junebug’ along with Amy Adams and Embeth Davidtz. This movie received nominations of ‘Best International Film’ and ‘Outstanding Ensemble Acting’ and received much praise at the Sundance Film Festival. Among his early performances are ‘The District’, ‘JAG’ and ‘Mad TV’. It was his brilliant performance on ‘The OC’ which made him to appear in various magazines including People, In Touch, Weekly and US Weekly.
Benjamin McKenzie appeared on the no. 5 in the Independent Online’s list of ‘100 Sexiest Men Alive’. He has also appeared in the Teen People magazine’s annual list of ‘25 Sexiest Stars Under 25?. In July 2005, he was voted one of InStyle’s ‘10 Hottest Bachelors of Summer’.
Football is his passion and he actively participates in football matches. He has a very good relationship with his co-stars namely Adam Brody and Rachel Bilson of ‘The OC’. He has had romantic relationships with several ladies such as Rachel McAdams, Rachel Nichols, Emily VanCamp, Zooey Deschanel, and Amanda Loncar etc. There have been rumors of his dating his fellow star Mischa Barton but both have denied it publicly.
Benjamin McKenzie also appeared on ‘Punk’d’. In the early 2008, he announced to adopt an abandoned Pitbull named Oscar. In the 2004 Democratic National Convention, he gave a speech and appealed the young Americans to go out and cast vote. In the 2004 ‘Rock the Vote’ movement, he supported Senator John F. Kerry.
Benjamin’s other acting credits include ‘The Stanford Prison Experiment’, ‘Johnny Got His Gun’, ‘JAG’, ‘Bravo Supershow’, ‘Last Call with Carson Daly’, ‘Late Night with Conan O’Brien’, ‘Live with Regis and Kelly’, ‘The Tony Danza Show’, ‘The View’, ‘Total Request Live’, ‘Unscripted’, ‘MTV Video Music Awards 2000?. He has received innumerous awards and nominations for his excellent appearances on various television shows and movies etc.
Role on ‘The OC’
On ‘The OC‘, Benjamin McKenzie portrayed the role of Ryan Atwood. He was seen appearing on all season of series. He’s the buddy who was taken in by Sandy Cohen after his mother threw him out of their house. He befriended Sandy’s son Seth. He had a romantic relationship with Theresa. Benjamin’s appearance on ‘The OC’ made him a household name and people started recognizing him as Ryan.
