BENJAMIN MCKENZIE Plots His Course

The actor leaves “The O.C.” far behind him, mapping out a challenging body of post-series work. First stop, 88 Minutes with Al Pacino.
By Terry Keefe

[This article is currently appearing in this month's VENICE MAGAZINE.]

Benjamin McKenzie became an instant star when The O.C. debuted on Fox in the fall of 2003, playing the lead character Ryan Atwood, a troubled youth from Chino who moves into a tony enclave behind the Orange Curtain. Within the context of the very fun series, McKenzie’s acting was certainly strong, and he had undeniable star quality. But it was difficult to predict his future career path, or the depth of his acting chops, from his work on the show. And, to be fair, you could say the same for any twentysomething actor starring in a show targeted squarely at the youth demographic. What was a lot more telling was McKenzie’s choice of film to do during the first “O.C.” hiatus. McKenzie could have easily taken a nice payday starring in a studio teen comedy or action film, but he chose to take a supporting role in the small indie feature Junebug. As angry and frustrated North Carolina homeboy Johnny Johnsten, McKenzie added lots of subtle depth to what might have been a stock character, creating a darker counterpart to his clueless but relentlessly optimistic wife Ashley, portrayed by Amy Adams. Building a diverse body of work was clearly important to McKenzie from the start of his career, as it is today. “The O.C.” wrapped its run in 2007, and McKenzie has sought out an interesting group of indie projects since then, including the upcoming Johnny Got His Gun, an adaptation of the famed Dalton Trumbo novel.

McKenzie in Johnny Got His Gun.

Although it’s not like he’s sworn off big-budget films either. The Texas-born McKenzie can be next seen opposite Al Pacino in the feature thriller 88 Minutes, directed by Jon Avnet. Pacino plays famed forensic psychologist and professor Dr. Jack Gramm, whose courtroom testimony years ago put a serial killer named Jon Forster on death row. On the eve of Forster’s execution, Gramm receives a mysterious series of phone calls telling him that he has 88 minutes to live. McKenzie plays Mike Stempt, one of Gramm’s top students, with whom the professor has a contentious relationship, and who may even be behind the death threat.

You’ve just lived the dream of a lot of young actors by working against Al Pacino in 88 Minutes.

Benjamin McKenzie: I did it because my scenes are with Al. That makes for a great story to tell your kids [laughs]. A opportunity you can’t really pass up. It worked out great, because we were shooting “The O.C.” on a regular Monday-Friday schedule, and they were shooting 88 Minutes on a Wednesday-Sunday schedule. So I just went up every weekend to shoot the movie [in Vancouver]. That was a little bit of a grind, but it was very inspiring to see Al work. He still works so hard. He’s so committed, that there was no room for me to complain about my work schedule [laughs]. He likes to do a lot of takes and always wants to rehearse. It was very impressive. Because when you’re dealing with someone who’s such a legend, you never know what you’re going to get.

He could easily just show up, do one take, and leave.

Sure, because what does he have to prove at this point? Who’s ever going to doubt that he’s not only a great actor, but also one of the greatest actors who ever lived? His place in history is secure. And you get a sense from him of the kind of psychology that’s necessary to achieve that type of success…a true work ethic. He loves what he does.

What types of rehearsals did you do with Pacino?

The first day, I was up there in Vancouver for some fittings, and things of that nature, and they hadn’t started shooting yet. We were [eventually] going to shoot a big classroom scene that I was in with Al, but I was the only other actor up there at the time, other than Al and [director] Jon Avnet. So, all of a sudden they wanted me to go rehearse with Al [laughs], and I had never even met Al. Soon, I’m in a huge room with just Al, Avnet, and the cinematographer. And I’m, of course, quaking and so scared [laughs]. But he was so helpful and polite, from day one, that it was very disarming… and unintimidating, in that sense. But, you know, it’s such an odd thing when you’re working with someone whose characters have infiltrated pop psychology for generations, from my father or grandfather, through me, to people who are 5 years old….they all know who Al Pacino is.

Pacino and McKenzie in 88 MINUTES.

You even get to have a yelling/fighting scene with him.

That was great because….well, Al does so many different things…but one of his trademark characteristics, of course, is that [deepens his voice] big, bold, brooding, in-your-face, New York-kind of thing. And when he does it, it’s so fun. It’s also fun to get to throw it back at him. And you can’t help but be transported to your parent’s house, watching The Godfather for the first time. Or watching Heat in the theater. Or watching Serpico. You know, people from my generation, we rediscover him. For the most part, we were too young to see most of his early work in the theaters. So I had to rent Serpico and Dog Day Afternoon and watch them at home. When I saw Dog Day Afternoon, I became obsessed with it, and watched it repeatedly. But when it came out in theaters, I hadn’t been born.

In terms of your character Mike Stempt, I won’t reveal whether he’s the killer or not, but did you play him with keeping that question in mind? As to whether he’s a mass murderer or not?

Yeah, I wanted to have as much fun with that as possible. It was very enjoyable to play somebody who had sort of an uncertain background. Whereas on “The O.C.”, I was playing somebody who had a little bit of an edge, but he’s basically a good guy, and you kind of always know that. He’s the hero of the show, and you’re rooting for him at all times. So, it’s nice to be able to play a guy who you’re not really sure is a good guy or a bad guy, and the audience isn’t supposed to know either. It was a pleasure to be able to indulge in that a bit.

You’ve recently finished an indie called Johnny Got His Gun, based on the book written by Dalton Trumbo.

It’s basically an adaptation of a stage play of the book. It had been made into a one-man play in the 70s or 80s, with Jeff Daniels when he was pretty much my age. It was probably one of his first breaks, and he won an Obie for it, starting his career. So, we took the stage play and shot it in a black box theater, without an audience. It’s sort of a Spalding Gray-type production, except I’m playing a character, as opposed to a first person sort of thing or however you would describe Spalding Gray’s material [laughs]. Meaning it’s obviously not my take on Johnny Got His Gun. It’s Dalton Trumbo’s words, more or less, as adapted by the playwright Bradley Rand Smith. Kind of between Spalding Gray and Dogville, where there’s no audience but you’re clearly in a small theater, and you’re performing it not unlike you would there. It’s a weird and interesting synthesis of those things. I had to memorize it all, to be able to do the whole thing straight through. So that we could shoot it all without breaking much. That was just a great challenge and a lot of fun. The film was also something I believe in from a political standpoint. Trumbo was one of the Hollywood 10, and an admitted Communist, although I don’t follow him quite to that level. He actually set the story during World War I, but his criticisms of many of the wars we’ve been in since, including Korea and Vietnam, are very relevant to what’s going on today. The story is much more pro-soldier than it is anti-war. It’s about the travesty of these big institutions, these governments, fighting each other, and sacrificing their young and relatively innocent men, under the guise of some sort of loftier slogan, but the reality being that the poorer and less educated men are sent off to die and fight these wars, for causes they don’t necessarily understand or agree with.

Was it shot with a number of cameras at once?

No, we shot with some of the new HD cameras, but with a single camera [at a time]. Minimal set-ups, so we’d do 10-15 minute long takes. But because we weren’t performing in front of a live audience, we were able to stop and get certain unique angles that you wouldn’t be able to get in front of an actual theater audience. We had crane shots, for example.

How many days of production?
We were rehearsing for a good month, just to get the words, the blocking, and the performance down. The shoot itself was only about a week.

Wow, not a lot of time. I know you did a lot of plays in New York prior to getting cast on “The O.C.”, so you had the training to do that type of full-length performance.

Well, I only did a few plays in New York, although I did a decent amount in college. To be honest with you, I was only in New York very briefly. I moved there right after college, but I graduated in ’01. So, I moved to New York and September 11th happened literally weeks after I got there.

Welcome to New York.

Yeah, and it was really hard to get work, to be honest. A lot of the downtown theaters, where actors traditionally started their careers, were shut down. You couldn’t even get south of Houston Street. So, within a year, I moved to L.A., on the advice of a friend. I basically camped out on his floor, trying to get work, and a year after that, I got “The O.C.” So, although I sort of started in theater, the work quickly became something else. And it was really nice to be able to go back and get more of that type of experience.

Did the theater muscles come back quickly in terms of memorization and endurance when you were preparing for Johnny Got His Gun?

I was so freaked out, so absolutely petrified about that. I agreed immediately to do it, because it seemed like such a cool project to do. And then, a week or two in, I looked at this script which is an hour and ten minutes or so….and I realized that I have to give an hour and ten minute speech, memorized, as a performance. With blocking and movements and doing different characters. I was freaking out a little bit, but it does come back. You take chunks of pages at a time, and get your little recording device, and you memorize a chunk, then do another chunk.

What was the audition process that landed you as the lead on “The O.C.”?

It was a fairly typical, hectic pilot season thing, where I was testing for another Warner Bros. show, which they ultimately went in a different direction with. But they had this show, “The O.C.”, which they hadn’t cast, and I went over there within a few days, and met with the producers. And that went well. Then there was the studio test, and the network test. The whole process took a week at most, and we were shooting two weeks later or something. It was insanely fast. We wrapped on a Friday, and they picked us up on a Monday or Tuesday. Then it was, “Build the sets as fast as you can, pump out the scripts, and let’s start shooting.” It was a very hectic year. But it quickly settled into more of a reasonable thing as the plotlines started to divert and the show got more expansive. My burden of work really becomes less after the second year.

You were also thrown into the world of fame at the same time.

Yeah, the first year was very strange, because not only are you doing a completely new thing, but you’re also doing all the promotion on top of the work. You’re introduced to this new world where people who don’t know you think they know you, or recognize you. And it’s a bizarre concept to wrap your head around, but I think I did alright with it [laughs].

McKenzie in "The O.C."

When the show ended, were you happy to move on, or did you wish it had gone on longer?

It was mixed feelings, I would say. I mean, I loved the work, and the people that I worked with. I’m so grateful for the experience. At the same time, you do start to get an itch about “What else is there out there?” You want to explore other things, particularly when you’re sort of young and ambitious. I think that, in a way, it had run its course. We told a lot of stories and told them pretty well. So, the end felt natural, I guess. And I came out of it with some good friends, which is nice. Adam Brody and I are still good friends. And it’s always nice to make some money.

You shot Junebug after the first year of “The O.C.” It was an interesting southern character you created for that film, and a significant change from your series work.

Thanks. You know, I’m from Texas, and I went to school in Virginia. I had never been to North Carolina, but my dad’s family is from there and my dad was actually born there. I think I understood a bit about the south, and grew up with guys not too dissimilar from the character I played, Johnny Johnsten. I’ll always love that name [laughs], Johnny Johnsten. As I soon as I met Phil Morrison, the director, I had a feeling pretty quickly that we were on the same page in terms of what he was looking for. So when it came time to shoot it, we were on hiatus from “The O.C.” I had a few weeks, so I went down to Salem, and rented a truck, and basically hung out. I had a couple of friends of friends there. I went to Durham Bulls games and went to stockcar races. I grew my mustache. And I tried to embrace it all as a life experience, not just an acting job. It was also great because this was just after the rush of the first year where you’re on a TV show and it’s popular. It was just really nice to go to a much more subdued part of the country, where it’s a lot more relaxed than Los Angeles, and to try to step into somebody else’s shoes.

McKenzie in Junebug, with Embeth Davidtz and Amy Adams.

You spoke at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. How did that come about?

My dad is a political buff and longtime Texas Democrat, so it was a real treat for us both to be able to go there. We sat in the Green Room with Maya Angelou! We met at the tea table. She was getting a cup of tea. So was I. She said hello. I said hello. She had no idea who I was, and that was completely fine with me [laughs]. I said, “I know who you are. You don’t who I am, but that’s cool. You’re speaking after me. This is a bizarre world we live in.” [laughs] It was all such a treat. I’ve been doing a little bit recently for Barack, when he was in Texas for the March 4th Democratic Primary.

I take it you’re supporting Barack Obama then?

Yes, I just think it’s time for a change, basically. I like Barack and what he represents, and I’m just very impressed with him. I’ve met him a few times now, briefly, but I think he’s a very honorable man.

Meanwhile, you went to high school with the Bush Twins.
Yeah, small world [laughs]. They were a few years younger than me, so I didn’t really know them. When their Dad became Governor, they began going to Austin High.

Then you majored in economics and foreign affairs at the University of Virginia. Any chance you’ll ever do anything in those fields?

I don’t know [laughs]. I really enjoyed studying in those areas. I sort of fell into acting. International affairs has always been an interest of mine, but I don’t know how that might manifest itself later. My mother always reminds me that I can still go to law school if things don’t work out in the acting world. I’m having a hard time convincing her that things have worked out, and it’s really okay [laughs]!