Ben McKenzie
Biography
Ben McKenzie is an American actor and author who built his career on television, playing Ryan Atwood on The O.C., the teen drama that ran from 2003 to 2007, then rookie officer Ben Sherman on Southland and James Gordon on Gotham, the Batman prequel that lasted five seasons and ended in 2019. Born in Austin, Texas, he made his film debut in Junebug (2005) and later appeared in 88 Minutes (2007), Goodbye World (2013), Some Kind of Beautiful (2014) and Line of Duty (2019). He directed episodes of Gotham and made his Broadway debut in 2020 in the play Grand Horizons. Away from acting he wrote Easy Money, a book about cryptocurrency fraud, with journalist Jacob Silverman, and directed the documentary Everyone Is Lying to You for Money.
48years old
Turns 49 on September 12in 334 days
- Born Austin
- Star sign: VirgoThe sign runs August 23 to September 22
- Benjamin McKenzie Schenkkan (birth name)Also credited as Benjamin McKenzie
Movie Career
- Films
- 9
- Career span
- 21 years2005 to 2026
First and latest
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Behind the camera
McKenzie made his directorial debut on an episode of Gotham, the series in which he starred as Jim Gordon, and went on to direct and write further episodes of the show.
A role that slipped away
Production Weekly reported that McKenzie was cast in the thriller Snakes on a Plane, once titled Pacific Air 121, but he left the project to make 88 Minutes, a film with Al Pacino.
A first
In 2008, McKenzie won critical praise for his solo performance as Joe Bonham in a "live on stage, on film" version of Dalton Trumbo's novel Johnny Got His Gun, his first starring film role. James Cagney and Jeff Daniels had played the part before.
Behind the camera
McKenzie's first book, Easy Money, was written with journalist Jacob Silverman and came out from Abrams Press in July 2023. It became a New York Times Bestseller and made the longlist for the Financial Times Business Book of the Year in 2023.
Ben McKenzie movies on Netflix
Best known for
The films on Netflix they are best known for, with the part played in each.
Worked with
Ben McKenzie made one film with each of them. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
Grey Griffin's page
Jeff Bennett's page
Malcolm McDowell's page
Pierce Brosnan's page
Al Pacino's page
Giancarlo Esposito's page
Jon AvnetDirector, 1 film, 2007
All films by Jon Avnet
Lauren MontgomeryDirector, 1 film, 2011
All films by Lauren Montgomery
Sam LiuDirector, 1 film, 2011
All films by Sam Liu
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.