Josh McKenzie first came to public and critical attention in 2011, when he was awarded the Most Outstanding Debut Performance at the AFTA's, New Zealand's most prestigious film and television honors. He played the of teenager Marc Snell (The Hopes and Dreams of Gazza Snell), a go-karting prodigy yoked with the guilt of putting his beloved younger brother (played by McKenzie's actual young brother William V. McKenzie) into a coma. The performance also resulted in McKenzie being nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a Feature Film at the same ceremony. Upon the completion of his high school studies, McKenzie gained acceptance to attend the acclaimed Toi Whakaari acting academy, New Zealand's most intensive and respected drama institution. Other alumni of the school include actors Cliff Curtis, Robyn Malcolm and Kerry Fox. McKenzie, eager to verify his talent on the stage, then starred as leading man Lysander in an abstract and modernized production of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, put on by the Auckland Theatre Company. McKenzie continued to diversify his choice of roles in the following period, effectively exploring an entire cross-section of the New Zealand film and television scene, which was quickly becoming a favoured location for international productions. His roles during this period included turns in famed fantasy series including Legend of the Seeker, The Shannara Chronicles and Power Rangers. He also starred in drama and comedy series including Girl vs. Boy, Go Girls, and Nothing Trivial, alongside leading performances in various indie and commercial features such as The Kick and Tangiwai. In 2013, McKenzie joined the cast of New Zealand's longest running and most watched nightly TV drama, Shortland Street. McKenzie has expressed his ability as writer and director. In 2014 he co-wrote, starred in and directed the web-series The Transplants. Viewable online, it is a dry comedy series that satirizes an actor's move to Hollywood, and the comical banality behind show-business, a reality that the media often chooses to conceal. In early 2015 McKenzie won the intensely contested role of John Jnr. Truebridge in Filthy Rich, New Zealand highest budgeted television production to date. McKenzie performs the part of a playboy with sociopathic tendencies and a host of addictions.