J.C. MacKenzie was a student at Concordia University when he saw his first play. Within two years, he was accepted at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. He has made over 150 appearances in films and television, and on stage. He is best-known for his role as "Ludlow" in Martin Scorsese's The Aviator (2004), "Arnold Spivak" in the Emmy ...
Often plays characters who are smarmy, corrupt, or unsympathetic. (A notable exception being his regular role on Murder One (1995).)
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I've had directors yell at me. I take them aside and tell them not to talk to me like that. It's totally ridiculous to try to get good work out of someone by screaming. With bullies all you have to do is stand up. Guys like that feel little, are insecure, and are control freaks. Generally, people are pretty cool. Anything that Marty Scorsese directs. It's an utterly liberating experience being on his set. Scorsese is the opposite of controlling, he actively encourages you to bring yourself in. Working with him is an interesting amalgamation of giving what he wants and doing what you want. He's an actor's director and you can tell, man. Acting's hard. Harder than it looks, particularly on set, but with him you feel that you can't make a mistake, if we fuck up a line sometimes we just incorporate it into the scene and make the film look more organic. I try to... whatever I'm playing I try not to judge the character, number one. I'm always me on screen, I don't try to transform, I just try to shift the lens of my personality and execute the lines through my own experiences with my own voice and opinions so it's more authentic; it's coming from me. Actors work different ways, some are obsessed with transforming into something else, but it's rare to do that and remain truly authentic. They might have a personable walk or voice but it looks fake to me. Unsavoury characters have more to delve into in the way of conflict, there's more to be understood... Sometimes my method doesn't work, sometimes I suck, sometimes I'm freighted or insecure and that translates to my acting. Sometimes I'm paralyzed with fear inside. I can't speak for other people but I think most of us are like that. It's a very strange thing being an actor, if you're up there and your wanting to present a character through your own incarnation; if you get rejected it seems personal. It can feel like your crumbling inside. Meditation has helped me with that.
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Has worked with Scorsese four times - The Aviator, The Departed, Wolf of Wall Street and the "Untitled Rock'n Roll" series for HBO.
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Played a regular or recurring character named "Arnold Spivak" in two different television series nearly two decades apart: lawyer Arnold Spivak in ABC prime time series Murder One (1995), and Dr. Arnold Spivak in the original Netflix horror series Hemlock Grove (2013).
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In the play Toad of Toad Hall there were two different "pantomime" horses. Two different actors played the fronts of the two different horses, but MacKenzie played the backside of both.
He played a character named "Dr. Fred Spivak" as a recurring guest on the series, The Practice (1997), and a character named "Arnold Spivak" as a series regular on Murder One (1995).
$15 Million
