Life & Work with Mackenzie Beenken of Atlanta

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mackenzie Beenken.

Hi Mackenzie, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I have always been drawn to stories. From crafting deeply imaginative beginnings for the trees rooted in my childhood backyard and believing every toy in the toy room was friends with the others, to forcing my friends into homemade music videos and finding art in Blockbuster movie aisles (RIP), storytelling always felt instinctive to me. There was something deeply human about finding a way to express what life felt like beyond mere existence.

My first run-in with acting came when I played Dorothy in my elementary school production of *The Wizard of Oz*, and from that moment onward, it was clear to me: there really is no place like home. To me, home was acting… a life in color from the black and white.

I spent the next decade doing theatre and stage plays, training and performing whenever I could. Eventually, I crossed paths with Debra Stipe, my first film acting coach. In that tiny self-tape room, there was nothing to hide behind. I found that the camera demanded authenticity; it demanded me. That level of vulnerability terrified me, but in a way I could not run from. Film became a space that celebrated human connection, truth, and the messy moments in between, and I never looked back.

I have been training ever since under brilliant artists… learning, unlearning, and becoming more human along the way. I believe you can only be as good an actor as you are a human being, so I try to live life in as many colors as I can.

Stories still permeate every corner of my life. Whether I’m auditioning for projects, working as a part-time photographer through my business, ByKenzieKate, hosting my podcast, Perfect2Me, or scribbling poems in the margins of my day, I’m always searching for connection and meaning through art. At the end of the day, I think that’s what storytelling is really about: making people feel a little less alone.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Oh, it has been nothing short of a rollercoaster! Ups and downs and loopty loops. But it’s a good thing I love a risk and a ride.

There are seasons where stories brew instead of demanding to be told. There are long waits. The film industry is something you cannot always take the pulse of. It’s learning how to stay fluid in the midst of something that rarely feels solid. I like to think of the waiting as a sweet incubation period… cultivating life, depth, and heart that would not have been there otherwise. It really is a game of resilience. How long will you fight the fight? And beyond that, what kind of person will you become in the waiting?

I will also be transparent in saying there is a lot of insecurity that can rise up in an industry where rejection is a given. It is easy to question your worth in a variety of facets. It’s important to revive the little artist in you and remind yourself why you fell in love with it all in the first place, and to surround yourself with people who celebrate every small win. So many of the most meaningful ones will never be seen by the masses.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am primarily an actor working in television and film, though storytelling tends to spill into every creative avenue of my life. Alongside acting, I also work as a photographer, host a podcast called Perfect2Me, and write poetry whenever life demands to be put into words. At the core of all of it is connection. I love art that makes people feel seen.

As an actor, I gravitate toward stories that feel deeply human… projects that allow people to feel the tension, tenderness, humor, grief, hope, and contradiction that exist within all of us. A beautiful dichotomy. I think I am most drawn to characters who are searching for truth in some way. There is something beautiful to me about finding humanity in the messy in-between spaces of life.

One thing I am especially proud of is my television debut on ABC’s Will Trent. Such a lovely cast and crew to work with. It felt really celebratory after years of training and putting in the work. It reminded me that growth often happens quietly, long before anyone else sees it.

I do not know if I believe any artist is entirely “set apart” from others, because so much of art is communal and inspired by one another. But I do think I bring a deep sense of curiosity, emotional sensitivity, and sincerity into the work that I do. I care deeply about people, and I think that naturally shapes the way I approach storytelling and collaboration.

I also think my background across multiple creative mediums has helped me become a more observant artist. Photography has taught me how to notice light, framing, and fleeting moments. Poetry has taught me how to sit in emotion. Podcasting has taught me how to listen. All of those things ultimately feed back into the kind of actor and storyteller I hope to become.

Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
What an exciting question. I think I grew up coloring inside the lines. Taking risks goes against my wiring, but in these past few years I have been dialing up the love I have for danger. I am currently knee-deep in *The Artist’s Way* by Julia Cameron, and it is turning me inside out. I think on every single one of my morning pages scribbled in stream of consciousness are the words, “I want to just jump.” I have become unashamedly obsessed with the fresh life and adrenaline found in diving into the deep end.

Artists are inherently risk takers in many ways. The world often looks at what we do as frivolous, but we know it is necessary. We know stories are integral to our humanity, that words are sometimes the only way to describe the indescribable, that music can push us to places we could never reach on our own.

For me, chasing this dream at all is a risk. The statistics echo it constantly in neon colors. But I’m all in. All my cards on the table. It’s worth it.

I also think risk exists in smaller, quieter ways too. Risk can look like allowing yourself to be seen honestly. It can look like sharing the poem, sending the self tape, speaking up in the room, falling in love with life again after disappointment, or choosing joy before certainty arrives.

I am learning that transformation requires transition. We cannot become something new while clinging tightly to every old version of ourselves. Growth asks us to move. To leap before we fully know where we will land. I am trying to unlearn the need to always get it right and instead live a little more bravely… more wholeheartedly.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm16349645/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mackenziebeen
• Other: https://bykenziekate.mypixieset.com/

Image Credits
Cathryn Farnsworth

Genya O’Neall

Tanya Blair