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Batman: Year One (2011)
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IMDbScooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated (2010)
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IMDbThe Glass Menagerie (2010)
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YouTubeSouthland (2009-2010)
Ben as Ben Sherman Info |
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Official SiteSin Bin (2010)
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IMDbThe Eight Percent (2009)
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FacebookJohnny Got His Gun (2008)
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Ben McKenzie, this month’s Guest Programmer, has become a television superstar thanks to his roles as Ryan Atwood in Fox’s teen drama The O.C. and as Ben Sherman in the gritty crime series Southland, currently showing on TNT. McKenzie also has earned awards and solid reviews for his acting in such films as Junebug (2005), 88 Minutes (2008) and Johnny Got His Gun (2008).
Film fan McKenzie says programming movies from the vast TCM library is “hard work,” and he has settled on an eclectic mix of dramas and comedies that span the decades. He tells host Robert Osborne that Terrence Malick’s atmospheric thriller Badlands (1973) is one of his all-time favorites and “one of the reasons I became an actor.” As a fan of sports movies, McKenzie admires both the book This Sporting Life and the 1963 film version starring Richard Harris in a “terrific” performance as a tough rugby player.
For a comic change of pace McKenzie picks Duck Soup (1933) because, with the Marx Brothers, “Everything is on the table–they will make fun of absolutely everything. This one takes aim at the political establishment, government, war.” McKenzie first saw David Lean’s The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) on television as a youngster and enjoyed its adventure, then later came to appreciate its “great performances” and stirring themes of “patriotism, loyalty and honor.”
Ben McKenzie has come a long way from The O.C., and this week’s Southland is one of his strongest. He spends much of the episode harassing the newly released con who raped his mother, risking his career as he oversteps his authority while making some fateful errors of judgment elsewhere on the beat. In the wrenching final scene, his mother reveals the assault wasn’t as black-and-white as it appeared when he was a child, and as he comes to grips with the reality, he loses his grip and weeps in anguished remorse. Well played.
After an untimely cancellation, the critically acclaimed Southland got a new life on a new network. Star Ben McKenzie talks about the show’s best season yet and the upsides of playing a police officer on TV.
When NBC canceled Southland in 2009 to make room for its (short-lived) prime-time Jay Leno experiment, the backlash was immediate. But Ben McKenzie, who plays LAPD rookie Ben Sherman on the gritty cop drama that debuted its third season earlier this month, let his Halloween costume do the talking for him.
“I found a Jay Leno mask, which wasn’t a perfect likeness, but they got the chin right,” he says. “When people didn’t think I was Richard Nixon, they got the joke.”
Luckily, the Southland saga ended happily when it was picked up by TNT. “There was always tension between the show we wanted to make and the show NBC was comfortable airing,” says McKenzie, 32. “Being on cable really frees us up to go for broke.” While the show’s storylines are often harrowing, the mood behind the scenes is anything but. McKenzie even admits to filming one driving scene, when actors are only shown from the waist up, sans pants. “I didn’t plan it very well,” the former O.C. star remembers. “The boxers I was wearing were bright red, and I have pale, pale legs. It was pretty striking.”
Despite the on-set antics, the cast is serious about getting the details of police work right. They go through intense training and use members of the LAPD as extras, who are happy to speak up if something’s amiss. “Yeah, the feedback loop’s pretty tight,” McKenzie laughs. “They are not shy about it.”
But McKenzie says it’s been fun to hear from people who aren’t typically fans of his work — people like the security guards at the theater where he performed in The Glass Menagerie last fall. “I don’t think they’ve seen The Glass Menagerie — I don’t think they have all that much interest in it,” he jokes. “But they’re big fans of Southland.”
Though McKenzie describes his off-camera life as “pretty quiet” — he likes to read, watch college football and hike with his dog — he admits that his affiliation with the show could come in handy should he ever find himself on the wrong side of the law. “Thankfully, I haven’t needed it,” he says. “But I’ve certainly kept a lot of business cards should a situation arise. They’re my get-out-of-jail-free cards — literally.”
This adorable picture was posted by Michael Ausiello on his new site.
Playing an L.A. cop can weigh heavily on an actor, so what better way to lighten up the mood than by channeling Charlie’s Angels?
That is precisely what three stars of TNT’s Southland did during a break in shooting the episode airing this Tuesday night — and TVLine has this exclusive peek at stars Ben McKenzie, Michael Cudlitz and Regina King striking the pose made famous by Sabrina, Kelly and Jill. (We’re purists; no other angels ever existed. Apologies to Shelley Hack).
Now in its third season, TNT’s Southland airs Tuesdays at 10/9c
Batman: Year One (2011)
Southland (2009-2010)
Sin Bin (2010)
The Eight Percent (2009)
Johnny Got His Gun (2008)
