Ben McKenzie was a millennial heartthrob on The O.C. Now, he's had a radical career change.

The year is 2003. The O.C. premieres and in saunters a broody, tow-headed teenager sporting a leather choker necklace. He's a soft-spoken, bad boy who enters a world of privilege. His name was Ryan and the whole world fell in love with him.

The actor who played him on the hit TV show, Ben McKenzie, was immediately launched into superstardom. Overnight he and his cast mates, Adam Brody, Mischa Barton and Rachel Bilson became teen idols to a generation of millennials. You couldn't switch on a TV or open a magazine without seeing their faces plastered everywhere.

Watch to further understand what cryptocurrency is. Post continues after the video.

After a four-year run the show finished and the cast went their separate ways. McKenzie, Brody, Barton and Bilson all splintered off into different directions but none of them really hit the peaks of success like they had enjoyed during their O.C. days. 

Adam Brody landed a handful of roles in films and TV, Rachel Bilson signed on to another CW show and now has a podcast, Mischa Barton endured some difficult personal issues and is now set to appear on Australian soap Neighbours, and Ben McKenzie has hopped around a few different TV series before ending up in the murky waters of cryptocurrency.

Yes, you read that correctly. Cryptocurrency.

In 2021, as the world buzzed with cryptocurrency, McKenzie had a hunch that this enticing new digital currency that promised a brighter future for anyone who bought into the idea, was little more than a dangerous fad with a dark underbelly.

With an economics degree to his name (a pre-fame certification) and a whole lot of spare time thanks to the pandemic, McKenzie took it upon himself to start digging into questioning the cryptocurrency movement. Certainly a far cry from his acting work, but, hey why the hell not. Stranger things have happened in America.

He teamed up with journalist Jacob Silverman, and they quickly realised they wanted to take this research to the next level by writing a book. 

Their project took them on a journey that included an interview with crypto exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried and a brush with a CIA operative. 

Once they had collated all of their findings, they had a searing condemnation of the cryptocurrency movement and how those at the top were complicit in millions of people losing money. Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud, was released last week and has sparked the attention of many within and outside the crypto community.

In a new feature interview with The Guardian the 44-year-old has opened up about his self-confessed "bizarre career pivot" and admits he originally agreed to write the book thanks to his acting background.

"It felt like something I could do, because I know a little bit about money, but I know about lying – I do it for a living," he said.

Within the pages of his book, one of his main gripes with the system has been his celebrity contemporaries involvement in selling the crypto dream. He references celebs like Kim Kardashian and Tom Brady who were key players in promoting crypto companies to the masses.

"It's just gross," McKenzie said. "Showbiz is a hustle, and there is money to be made by selling products, which is fine, but this is different. This is not soap or car insurance. This is an unregulated, unlicensed security, in my opinion, and you are effectively offering financial advice, whether you say you are or not.”

As he embarks on a press tour to promote the book, it's clear that McKenzie is incredibly passionate about helping lift the veil on an industry that has been fraught with controversy

As he adds cryptocurrency expert and author to his CV, we wonder where he will go next. Perhaps, he'll join Mischa Barton on the Neighbours set? After his latest career 180, truly nothing will shock us.

Feature Image: The Guardian/Getty