‘Freaking obsessed': Josh McKenzie on meeting his 90s child star crush
Josh McKenzie, local star of The Hunting Party, Filthy Rich and La Brea, shares his life in television.
Like almost every New Zealand actor who has made it into a big snazzy international TV show, Josh McKenzie cut his teeth on Shortland Street long before he starred in enormous American productions like La Brea and The Hunting Party. Playing the role of executive assistant Nate, McKenzie says the soap opera was 'one hell of a training ground' for a young actor. 'You learn how to deliver dialogue at pace with one or two takes convincingly, and you've just got to be pumping constantly – otherwise you look like an idiot,' he laughs.
It's this stamina and work ethic that he says sets New Zealanders apart in the international industry, and came in very handy on the set of The Hunting Party. In the fast-paced procedural, in which a task force is assembled to hunt escaped serial killers after an explosion at a top secret prison facility, McKenzie plays former soldier and prison guard Shane Florence. 'It's a very fast turnaround show, but still nowhere near as fast as Shortland Street,' he says. 'Honestly, after you do Shortland Street, everything else feels like a luxury.'
And while he acknowledges procedural shows might not be 'hip' at the moment, McKenzie says they always have a place in his watchlist. 'I'm a real sucker for any kind of procedural – killer of the week, crime of the week, medical case of the week. They're all nice little comfort watches for me.' Auspiciously, he was deep into rewatching House when he got the call to join The Hunting Party. 'It's a very different backdrop, but a similar format – you've got the central unit of people who are trying to solve a problem, and everyone fills an archetype.'
The first episode of The Hunting Party opens with its gigantic, secret citadel blowing up in the middle of nowhere, and McKenzie still remembers how it felt to be there. 'It's kind of like stepping into a theme park,' he says. 'You're on your first day on set and there's the ruins of a giant top secret prison right there. That feeling never really gets old for me, where that inner child wakes up and just wants to run around and have fun.' And while we are channeling childhood, we then asked McKenzie to take us through his life in television.
My earliest TV memory is… I was so freaking obsessed with McDonald's Young Entertainers that I wrote a handwritten letter to Drew Ne'emia. McDonald's Young Entertainers really awoke something in me, it was like our version of the Disney Kids.
The show I would rush home from school to watch is… Malcolm in the Middle was my big after school show, which I've also started rewatching again recently. It really holds up and you can see how much of a genius Bryan Cranston was. He's actually incredible.
My first TV crush was… I would honestly probably have to say Drew Ne'emia. I served him a drink when I was working at Lone Star and I was about to say, 'hey, man, I wrote you a letter when I was seven' but I didn't.
My first time on screen was… I played like a handless skeleton in a Halloween special for Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego. I got to choose my costume and I wanted the skeleton, but he was missing one of the gloves. They were like 'can you choose something else' and I was like 'no, I want to be the skeleton'. So that's how I was a handless skeleton on Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego.
My TV guilty pleasure is… My partner is obsessed with Shahs of Sunset, which is a show about some of the worst people. I was building some Ikea furniture and watching it with her, and then I found myself being totally engrossed by the episode.
My favourite NZ TV ad is… My little sister was in the Milky Bar ad where Jemaine Clement played the bad guy with a moustache. It was set in a saloon with all the little kids playing the hokey typical roles in a Western. She played the saloon girl, and I vividly remember remembering visiting on set when she was doing that.
My favourite TV character of all time is… What Anthony Starr did in Outrageous Fortune with Jethro and Vann made a huge impression on me as a budding young actor, so those twins are definitely up there as some of my favourites. I also love Ted Danson's character in Cheers, Robin Wright's character in House of Cards, Gillian Anderson in The Fall is fucking epic.
The TV project I wish I could be involved in is… The Sopranos or The Wire – every character has something going on. I'm also a video game fan, so The Last of Us would also be a dream.
A show that I'll never watch, no matter how many people say I should is… I won't watch TV shows on Tiktok. I just can't. It hurts my soul. And I'm sure it's the future of how we're going to digest media, but I just can't bring myself to do it. My friend always sends me these these micro soaps, three minute long episodes, and they are all so bad. It's always the richest man in the world, but his wife is cheating on him, but she's actually richer than him. All these terrible setups and they just churn them out.
The last thing I watched on television was… I watched the latest episode of The Last of Us and the last episode of The Pitt, both in the same night.
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