Berend McKenzie

Berend McKenzie is a Canadian actor and playwright. As an actor he is most known for playing Lance in the 2004 film, Catwoman. As a playwright Berend is most known for his controversial play, Nggrfg (Nigger fag, subtitled, Would You Say the Name of This Play?). Berend is of African descent. He was adopted by a Caucasian family; growing up in Alberta. There he found little support for being homosexual due the areas Christian beliefs. His family was supportive of him upon coming out to them. 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.