Berend McKenzie is a Canadian actor and playwright. As an actor he is most known for playing Lance in the 2004 film,

Catwoman Catwoman is a fictional character created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Debuting as "the Cat" in ''Batman'' #1 (spring 1940), she ...

. As a playwright Berend is most known for his controversial play, ''Nggrfg'' (Nigger fag, subtitled, ''Would You Say the Name of This Play?'').

Biography

Berend is of

African descent Black is a racialized classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin; in certain countries, often in s ...

. He was adopted by a Caucasian family; growing up in

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

. There he found little support for being homosexual due his family's Christian beliefs. He also found it hard to be a gay black male in Alberta, often being called the slurs, "nigger" and "fag"; this subsequently inspired his play, ''Nggrfg'', an exploration of the two words that he was called the most growing up. After being caught in a "drunken grope-fest" with another boy at a party, his student council asked him to leave school as they feared he "wouldn't be safe." McKenzie fled both home and school shortly after.

Career and success of "Nggrfg"

Berend made his film debut in the 2002 movie,

Life or Something Like It ''Life or Something Like It'' is a 2002 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Herek. The film focuses on television reporter Lanie Kerrigan (Angelina Jolie) and her quest to find meaning in her life. The original music score ...

in a small role alongside

Angelina Jolie Angelina Jolie (; born Angelina Jolie Voight; June 4, 1975) is an American actress, filmmaker, humanitarian and former Special Envoy to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award ...

. As a film actor, Berend is most known for playing the role of sassy art department representative, Lance in the 2004 action superhero film,

alongside

Alex Borstein Alexandrea Borstein (born February 15, 1971) is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer. Borstein voices Lois Griffin on the animated comedy television series '' Family Guy'' (1999–present), and won a Primetime Emmy Award for the rol ...

and

Halle Berry Halle Maria Berry (; born Maria Halle Berry; August 14, 1966) is an American actress. She began her career as a model and entered several beauty contests, finishing as the first runner-up in the Miss USA pageant and coming in sixth in the Mis ...

. In 2006 McKenzie debuted at the

Edmonton Fringe Festival The Edmonton International Fringe Festival is an annual arts festival held every August in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Produced by the Fringe Theatre Adventures (FTA), it is the oldest and largest fringe theatre festival in North America (based on ...

with his first full-length play, ''Get Off the Cross, Mary,'' a queer disco puppet remake of ''

The Passion of the Christ ''The Passion of the Christ'' is a 2004 American epic biblical drama film produced, directed and co-written by Mel Gibson and starring Jim Caviezel as Jesus of Nazareth, Maia Morgenstern as Mary, mother of Jesus, and Monica Bellucci as Mary M ...

.'' This play won the Xtra West Hero Award for Best Live Performance in 2008. McKenzie's second full-length play debuted in 2010, ''Nggrfg'', an autobiographical play regarding the two most used slurs he heard growing up in Alberta, Canada. ''Nggrfg'' is set up as four stories told by McKenzie about growing up black and gay in Alberta, with little tolerance for each by his peers. The play earned a Jessie Award nomination for Original Script and was also run at Halifax's Queer Acts Theatre Festival. An adaptation of the play entitled, ''Tassels'', was also made in order to portray an appropriate storyline for elementary and middle schools.

Film

Television

Playwright

References

External links

Berend McKenzie on IMDb
{{DEFAULTSORT:McKenzie, Berend Living people 21st-century Canadian male actors 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights Canadian autobiographers Canadian male film actors Canadian male stage actors Canadian male television actors Canadian male voice actors Canadian gay writers Canadian male dramatists and playwrights Canadian LGBT dramatists and playwrights Black Canadian writers Black Canadian male actors Writers from Alberta Male actors from Alberta Black Canadian LGBT people Canadian male non-fiction writers Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century LGBT people Canadian gay actors Gay dramatists and playwrights