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He attended Austin High School, and played wide receiver and defensive back for the school's football team. From 1997-2001, he attended the University of Virginia, where he majored in Foreign Affairs and Economics.

McKenzie was born in Austin, Texas, the son of Mary Frances (nee Victory), a prize-winning poet, and Pieter Meade Schenkkan. His uncle is the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Robert Schenkkan. McKenzie is the second cousin of actress Sarah Drew. McKenzie changed his name for screen-credit purposes because there's an actor named Ben Schenkken registered with the Screen Actors Guild. His paternal grandparents both were theatre actors. His younger brother Nate is a Yale graduate working in avant-grade theater in New York. His youngest brother Zack is a Pomona College alum.

McKenzie stays active by playing football, the sport being one of his passions. He has also been a long-time Boston Red Sox fan. He is good friends with his O.C. co-stars Adam Brody and Rachel Bilson. He has reported that he is best friends with Mischa Barton. He was romantically linked to Rachel McAdams, Rachel Nichols, Emily VanCamp, Zooey Deschanel, and Amanda Loncar. Due to their on-screen-chemistry, rumors flew that McKenzie dated The OC-costar Mischa Barton, although this has been denied by both parties.

As of 2005, he became the third star of The O.C. to appear on Punk'd. He set up his co-star Adam Brody in 2004, and he appeared again on Punk'd in 2005, this time getting punk'd by Kutcher's crew members.

McKenzie stated on the The Ellen DeGeneres Show that in early 2008, he adopted an abandoned Pitbull, named Oscar, who had previously been used as a bait dog in dog-fighting. He named the dog after Oscar Madison from The Odd Couple, because the dog reminded him of an old man. McKenzie admitted to DeGeneres that he later realized that naming a dog Oscar was one of the most pretentious things an actor could do.

During the 2004 Democratic National Convention, McKenzie gave a speech appealing to young Americans to go out and vote. He was also involved in the Rock the Vote movement in 2004, supporting Senator John F. Kerry.

During the 2008 Democratic primary season, he visited numerous college campuses such as The University of Texas at Austin with actress Kerry Washington endorsing Barack Obama and encouraging students to vote. McKenzie is an ardent supporter of Barack Obama in the 2008 U.S. presidential election.

McKenzie has also volunteered with the Young Storytellers Program for the past few years.

He got into acting during his first few years at the university, and moved to Los Angeles in late 2001 to look for acting opportunities. While in New York he appeared off-Broadway in Life is a Dream at the SoHo Rep. Additionally, he performed in numerous productions at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, including Street Scene and The Blue Bird, and at the University of Virginia in Measure for Measure and Zoo Story. He then moved to Los Angeles, where he landed a lead role in The O.C.

In August 2003, FOX premiered the television series The O.C., about affluent teenagers with stormy personal lives who reside in scenic Orange County, California. The show became an overnight success and it put McKenzie on the map as Ryan Atwood.The O.C. dropped in ratings dramatically during its third and fourth seasons, and ended in early 2007.

In November 2007, McKenzie supported the Writers Guild of America West solidarity march in Hollywood on November 13. The strike started on November 5, 2007.He is currently working on feature films.

McKenzie's performance in The O.C. earned him a "Choice Breakout TV Star - Male" and "Choice TV Chemistry" nominations in The Teen Choice Awards and a "Choice TV Actor - Drama/Action Adventure" and "Choice TV Actor: Drama" wins. In 2007, McKenzie appeared in Junebug alongside Amy Adams and Embeth Davidtz. The film was nominated for "Best International Film" and "Outstanding Ensemble Acting" in The Amanda and also received high praise at the Sundance Film Festival.[8] McKenzie's early appearances included The District, JAG and Mad TV, after that he starred in 88 Minutes, which won the Sarasota Film Festival for "Outstanding Ensemble Acting".

As a result to the show's success, McKenzie appeared in magazines including People, In Touch Weekly and Us Weekly. McKenzie was ranked No. 5 in Independent Online's "100 Sexiest Men Alive", was twice placed on Teen Peoples annual list of "25 Sexiest Stars under 25". He was also voted one of InStyles "10 Hottest Bachelors Of Summer" in July 2005.

According to Production Weekly, McKenzie was set to star in the thriller Snakes On A Plane, formerly known as Pacific Air 121, but later dropped out to film 88 Minutes.

He is managed by Management 360 and the William Morris Agency.

As of September 2008, McKenzie is gearing up to promote the "live on stage, on film" version of Dalton Trumbo's 1938 novel Johnny Got His Gun, in which he stars as Joe Bonham, a role previously played by James Cagney, Jeff Daniels, and Timothy Bottoms.

He has also been cast as a rookie cop in a new TV drama entitled LAPD, co-starring Regina Hall and Michael Cudlitz. The show will most likely be a mid-season replacement, or be picked up at the beginning of the Fall 2009 television season.