Mr. McKenzie will see you now! Gotham's Ben McKenzie doesn't talk much about his private life, but he opened up a little to Elle about his thoughts on relationships and sex — including at least one past experience with a pair of novelty handcuffs.
Asked whether any of his former partners had asked him to wear his cop uniform from Southland to bed, the O.C. alum, 36, replied, "There's been a joke or two, but no one's ever really asked. Handcuffs have been brought."
He was quick to clarify, though, that the props weren't his. "I didn't have them. They were brought," he told Elle for its January issue. "And that's fun. As long as they're not actual real ones where you can lose the key. You want the obviously not real ones. The pink fluffy ones."
McKenzie's sex life hasn't always been so active, though. According to his Elle interview, he had bunk beds in his first New York apartment — which was something of a turn-off for the ladies.
"You have to talk about it before you enter the apartment. You can't just drop that bomb," he joked of his living situation at the time. "I may have managed a make out session or two, but I certainly don't remember being able to seal the deal. Any woman worth her salt has to draw a line at some point. And that line is definitely having bunk beds as a 22-year-old."
A few years later, of course, McKenzie landed a role on The O.C. and said goodbye to bunk-bed living. "Honestly, it was great to be able to take a girl out to a nice meal," he told Elle of the nicest thing about making money. "I like the idea of old-fashioned dating, which at this point is almost heretical. People are genuinely surprised when you ask them out."
McKenzie clearly has a romantic side — but he's not always Prince Charming. After admitting to Elle that his exes might describe him as "stubborn" and "maybe a little detached," he confessed his biggest dating regret.
"It's a bit of a cliche, but basically I wish I'd listened more," he shared. "Get over your ego a bit. Listen to a different perspective and you almost always modify your position and realize you're probably too dogmatic, too competitive, too jealous, too frustrated. I love women for being able to knock that s–t out of you."
Read more from Ben McKenzie in Elle's January issue, and on Elle.com!
