AC Interview: Benjamin McKenzie Talks for Less Than "88 Minutes"

The Former Star of "The O.C." Plays Opposite Al Pacino in Real-Time Thriller

Like many performers before him, Benjamin McKenzie made the jump from a successful television series ("The O.C.") to the big screen. McKenzie, who acted opposite "Enchanted" star Amy Adams in the critically-acclaimed film "Junebug," now plays one of Al Pacino's students in the thriller "88 Minutes."

Moving Out of "The O.C."

After playing Ryan Atwood, the central character on "The O.C.", for years, his fans may have some trouble accepting McKenzie in other roles at first. "I tried to do things that aren't the film version of 'The O.C.', whether it's a teen thriller or teen comedy, whatever those sorts of things are. I've tried to do things that are a little outside the norm in terms of taking roles that are different than the role I played on 'The O.C.'," McKenzie said on a recent conference call in support of "88 Minutes."

"The way that I have gone about doing projects other than 'The O.C.', I basically picked things that are, in my mind, quite different, whether it's 'Junebug' or this movie with Al (Pacino), where I got to act with a legendary actor," he said.

Face-to-Face with Pacino

In "88 Minutes," McKenzie plays Mike Stempt, a student of forensic psychiatrist Dr. Jack Gramm (Pacino). As the action heats up, McKenzie found himself in some very explosive onscreen confrontations with Pacino's character.

"My agent called me and said there's a role in an Al Pacino movie and your scenes are with Al Pacino. I said 'Great! When can I start?' It was literally that simple," McKenzie said, explaining how he landed the role. "I actually knew Jon Avnet, the director, socially; I met him socially a year before, so we knew each other a little bit."

Balancing "The O.C." with "88 Minutes"

McKenzie said that he was still shooting episodes of "The O.C." while working on "88 Minutes." "Thankfully, they (the '88 Minutes' crew) were on a Wednesday to Sunday schedule up in Vancouver, so I literally shot Monday through Friday in LA and then went up to Vancouver and shot up there," he said.

Working in Real-Time for "88 Minutes"