Nice Boy of the Week: Ben McKenzie

With the premiere of SouthLAnd‘s second season on TNT, how could we not vote for Ben McKenzie as our Nice Boy for this week? Ben plays Officer Ben Sherman on SouthLAnd, but he is best known for his role as Ryan Atwood on The O.C. He appeared in 88 Minutes in 2007 and in 2005 made his feature film debut in Junebug, with Amy Adams. Other television credits include JAG and The District.

Ben garnered multiple Teen Choice Awards for his role on The O.C., as well as the Amanda Award for Outstanding Performance in Feature Film: Junebug and BRAVO Gold Otto (Germany) for Best Male Actor: The O.C.

Although Ben majored in Economics and Foreign Affairs at the University of Virginia, he got into acting during his first few years there. He moved to New York where acting opportunities were more numerous, and landed a role in the off-Broadway play Life Is A Dream. From there, Ben moved to L.A. and began his O.C. days. The rest is history.

Want to catch up on season one of “SouthLAnd”? Go here to see how!