Benjamin McKenzie says a mouthful with his eyes.
A flash of his baby blues can signal hurt, wariness, rage or defiance roiling within Ryan Atwood, the troubled teen he plays on Fox’s “The O.C.” Drawn into the privileged world of Orange County, California, Ryan is a tough but sensitive outsider struggling to fit in without compromise. The eyes say it all.
“He’s the eyes and ears of the audience. He provides them with the entree into this world of glitz and glamour. He displays as much wisdom as anybody on the show. Basically, Ryan is an adult trapped in a kid’s body — that’s my take on it,” McKenzie says.
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To O.C. or not to O.C.? That is the television critic’s most pressing late-summer question. If you saw any of the commercials for Fox’s glossy, aggressively advertised new drama about rich kids run amok in Southern California, you probably made up your mind before the first episode even aired. You either thought, “That looks like an offensive piece of teen-exploitation crap,” or “Finally, something to fill the gaping hole in my life left by the demise of Beverly Hills 90210.” Sure, some of 90210’s fans turned to Dawson’s Creek or Gilmore Girls, but those wholesome series lacked a certain glitz and tawdriness. In a daring move, Fox has placed The O.C. in the time slot opposite Gilmore Girls’ summer reruns, effectively staging a showdown between two sensibilities: the ultra-girly, nonstop cultural-chatter of the G.G. versus the long, taciturn silences of The O.C.
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It’s the show we can’t stop talking about, the show that has made Tuesday night TV night again. The O.C. has the juiciest story lines and the hottest cast (so many cute guys, so little time!) and we’re hooked. Whether you’re already addicted or need a primer, check out our profiles of the main cast members and you’ll be ready to dive right in next Tuesday at 9 p.m. EST on Fox.
Who: Ryan Atwood, played by Benjamin McKenzie
In five words his character is: The rebellious, yet sensitive outsider
Who is he? Ben was born and raised in Austin, TX. After graduating from the University of Virginia, where he majored in foreign affairs and economics, he moved to New York to act, starting his career in off-Broadway plays. But the 24-year-old doesn’t stay still for long — he moved again, this time to L.A. and sealed the lead role in The O.C almost immediately.
Where we’ve seen him: Nowhere — this is his first TV role.
Why we like to watch him: Because even though the Russell Crowe look-alike plays the classic guy-from-the-wrong-side-of-the-tracks, he’s already shown his softer side. The way he stands up for Seth and the angst he feels when his mom ditches him shows us that under that white muscle tee is a heart of gold. Plus, his chemistry with Marissa is so hot that we can barely drag ourselves away when the two share screen time.
Source: ym.com
The critics are raving about The O.C. The Miami Herald calls it “totally absorbing television.” The Kansas City Star says it’s “sexy and soapy on the outside, soft and tender on the inside. [It] has something rarely seen on a “90210″ offspring — namely, people we actually care about.” The Calgary Sun calls it “possibly addictive” and “a great guilty pleasure.” The New York Post says “If this one doesn’t last, then I give up. It’s as good as TV soap gets.”
What’s more, the Chicago Sun-Times calls Benjamin McKenzie (Ryan Atwood) a “revelation” and hails his “star quality.” According to the Newark Star ledger, “McKenzie has the kind of charisma and screen presence to move up to the heavyweight ranks in short order.” But McKenzie downplays that praise. “We’re not doing Checkov or Ibsen, this is a drama on Fox,” McKenzie told the Associated Press. While he’s interested in “the conflict between (his character’s) past life and his future life,” he really took the job because “…I believed it would pay my rent, which I hadn’t been able to do.”
McKenzie isn’t the only one singled out for praise. The San Francisco Chronicle admires “how well the Cohens’ son is drawn. Here’s a teen character who’s not easily pigeonholed, which speaks well of the script and [Adam] Brody’s charm as an actor.”
Source: foxorangecounty.com
Looking to get a jump on everyone else for the fall — plus hook viewers hungry for scripted programming — Fox on Tuesday premieres an ambitiously modern prime-time drama/soap called “The O.C.” that delves into the rich and dysfunctional lives of families in the gated-community world of Orange County.
The series will air for seven weeks, then go off the air as Fox shows major league baseball playoffs and the World Series. It returns Oct. 30. This is a big scheduling gamble because viewers won’t come back unless the first seven episodes are stellar.
The pilot is superb. The knee-jerk reaction to “The O.C” would be to assume that years after the fact, Fox is just looking for a little “Beverly Hills 90210″ action to bolster ratings. But that ignores the pretty decent pedigree of the people behind “The O.C.,” not to mention that the series is compelling on more than a few levels, able to hook both young viewers and their parents.
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