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How a broken TV led Nikki McKenzie to star in Hollywood Christmas film

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Yong Chavez | TFC News Hollywood

<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7uImAqTdtPw?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><p>In the romantic-comedy “A Vineyard Christmas,” Nikki McKenzie plays Heather Marquez, a TV personality who comes home to her Filipino dad for the holidays and meets a handsome but grumpy vineyard owner played by Victor Zinick Jr.</p><p>What makes the starring role truly a dream come true for the Filipino-American actress is that she is also able to showcase her culture and background in the film.</p><p>&quot;I&#x27;m proud of the work but it&#x27;s definitely been a journey,&quot; said McKenzie. &quot;When I got offered the lead in these romcoms, it kind of felt like a pinch-me moment.  There&#x27;s no way. Like ‘I booked this?’&quot;</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="vineyardchristmans" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/entertainment/12/20/5.png"/><figcaption><address style="text-align:left">Fil-Am actress Nikki McKenzie co-stars with Victor Zinick Jr. in the holiday romcom &quot;A Vineyard Christmas.&quot; (Courtesy: Reel One &#x27;A Vineyard Christmas&#x27;)</address></figcaption></figure></div><p>She added: &quot;It&#x27;s great to see how the industry has changed. Even in &#x27;A Vineyard Christmas,&#x27; they made that part Filipina for me and the writer Katie Wilbert, rewrote the part to be Filipina. So she interviewed me about my family and culture. Noche Buena got put in there, lechon, puto bumbong. We had Tagalog in the film.&quot;</p><p>Born in the Philippines, McKenzie grew up in Northern California. In 2007, she moved to Los Angeles where she went to college.</p><p>For many years, like many Filipino talents, she struggled to get significant parts in Hollywood. But in 2020, she came very close to a couple of starring roles only to have her heart broken when she ended up not getting the parts after all.</p><p>&quot;You&#x27;re putting your heart out on the line every single time for a part because you put so much of yourself into it,&quot; McKenzie shared. &quot;I was at that moment where I needed kind of a break, and I was feeling disheartened.&quot;</p><p>She added: &quot;And then this audition for The Wedding Contest came in, and I remember getting the audition and I was like, I&#x27;m gonna pass on this because there&#x27;s no way they&#x27;re gonna cast a Filipina as the lead of a romantic movie.&quot;</p><p>McKenzie shared that she almost skipped the audition. But during a flight to Philadelphia with her husband to visit family, a broken TV led her to read the script as she had nothing else to do.</p><p>&quot;I fell in love with it. It was so funny,&quot; she added. &quot;I was like, you know what, I&#x27;m going to record this audition because it brings me joy.  I&#x27;m gonna do this for me, not for anyone else, not so that I can get a part, not because I want anyone to like me. Only because it lights me up. And then I booked it two days later.&quot;</p><p>Because of her work in “The Wedding Contest,” the producers hired McKenzie again to be the leading lady of “A Vineyard Christmas.”</p><p>The holiday romcom is currently streaming on Peacock and on Paramount Plus.</p>

Fil-Am actress Nikki McKenzie stars in the holiday rom-com 'A Vineyard Christmas'