He was the rebel with the soft core: Ryan Atwood. The James Dean for millennials shook up the lives of the Cohen family starting August 5, 2003. Actor Ben McKenzie shot into the public eye with co-stars Mischa Barton and Adam Brody. They surfed the euphoric wave of Phantom Planet’s “California” to teen idol status.
20 years later her youth series OC, California enjoys cult status. McKenzie, however, has long since moved on. The Texan native has starred in three hit series, but that’s old news. Ben McKenzie is now the poster boy in the fight against crypto scammers. He also does not shy away from criticism of Hollywood’s top stars.
After OC, California, Ben McKenzie became a series cop
Shortly after OC, California ended, McKenzie transitioned into the cop genre. As Officer Ben Sherman on the crime series Southland, he ventured into those corners of Los Angeles that the privileged Cohen family only hears about on the news.
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Other colleagues are associated with their teenage successes into old age. For McKenzie, however, the 5-season series opened a path into adult roles.
A number brings us closer to the core of his image: 143. Over a ten-year period, Ben McKenzie played law enforcement in 143 episodes. First in Southland, then in the DC series Gotham. As a young James Gordon, he wants to clean up the cesspool long before Bruce Wayne is old enough to buy fags.
The New York Times therefore described McKenzie after the launch of Gotham as “old-fashioned” Star, who opposed the then popular anti-heroes like Don Draper (Mad Men) or Walter White (Breaking Bad) as an idealist.
Whether Ryan Atwood, Ben Sherman or James Gordon: McKenzie plays guys with a precisely aligned moral compass. Circumstances may drive them to commit crimes.
TNT
Ben McKenzie in Southland
So in 2019, Ben McKenzie’s resume was graced with several hit shows, all of which had spanned four or more seasons. He was in his early 40s then. And then along came Covid — and Matt Damon.
How The Gotham Star Transformed Into An Anti-Crypto Prophet
During the pandemic, McKenzie sat bored at home with his wife (Morena Baccarin) and children, when a friend drew his attention to a vein of gold called Bitcoin. A “vein of gold” for which a certain Matt Damon shot a commercial worth millions.
Bitcoin is the best-known so-called “cryptocurrency”. These are decentralized online currencies that promise anonymous transactions and are bought and sold on internet exchanges.
The more people invest real money in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum or Dogecoin, the higher their value increases. In November 2021, Bitcoin reached its all-time high of almost $69,000 per digital coin. Spoiler: Today it is “slightly” lower.
Warner Bros. Television
Ben McKenzie in Gotham
Ben McKenzie studied economics and foreign policy prior to OC, California. He looked at the matter and came to the conclusion: Most cryptocurrencies are worthless and offer an opportunity cheating ordinary people with big promises out of their money. McKenzie, it seems from the outside, found himself the cop he’d been playing for us for so long.
I felt like this was something I could do as I know a bit about money but I also know how to lie – that’s my job. (Guardians)
Others found a new favorite sport or created carrot cake recipes during lockdown. OC star Ben McKenzie turned into an anti-crypto prophet. He teamed up with journalist Jacob Silverman to educate the public.
Why McKenzie criticizes stars like Matt Damon so harshly
At the same time, some of the biggest stars in sports and entertainment have lent themselves to crypto promotion. The best known is probably Matt Damon, who (after all) donated his salary to a good cause. In a spot played worldwide for an internet exchange he compares online currency trading to the discovery of space. “Fortune favors the brave”, the ex-Martian proclaims. Ben McKenzie just scoffs at this:
No, you’re just a guy in a studio with a black t-shirtwhich on any [CGI]-Shows stuff that doesn’t even exist. But you got a lot of money for it. (Guardians)
Crypto.com
Matt Damon in the spot
In an article for Slate, McKenzie and Silverman referred to celebrity advertising of such products as “moral catastrophe”:
These rich and famous entertainers might as well be promoting payday loans or seat their audience at a rigged blackjack table.
The announced crash actually came. Sam Bankman-Fried, co-founder of crypto exchange FTX, was arrested after it went bankrupt in December 2022. The allegations: bank transfer fraud, securities fraud and money laundering.
OC crush Ryan Atwood is writing books now
Ben McKenzie certainly hasn’t let go of his pandemic obsession (how many lockdown bakers can say that?). In El Salvador, he researched the consequences of crypto use (The Intercept) with Jacob Silverman. He appeared before a US Senate committee as an expert on the subject “Crypto Crash: Why the FTX Bubble Burst and How It’s Hurting Consumers”.
Abrams & Chronicle Books
Ben McKenzie’s book
The culmination of his and Silverman’s work is their joint book Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraudwhich hit the bestseller lists in the US in July of this year.
A delicacy from the factory tells how the two approached by six suspected CIA agents became. However, they didn’t want an autograph from the OC, California star, but wanted to exchange information about crypto.
The only question left is where will Ben McKenzie bring law and order next – on camera or in real life?
The first episode of OC, California aired on August 5, 2003 on FOX in the United States. The German premiere took place the following year. IIn Germany, the series is streamed on Amazon Freevee, Joyn and other providers.