Spy: Is Davida McKenzie the next big thing in film and fashion

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Davida McKenzie is not only following in the acting footsteps of her multi-talented sister Thomasin, she has just signed with a major Australian model agency.

This month she signed with Sydney-based Priscilla’s Model Management, known for representing some of the world’s best international talent for decades. Top model and actress Gabriella Brooks who has been dating Aussie star Liam Hemsworth is also on the agency’s books.

McKenzie is listed in the development section and although Spy is told she has only done a few jobs so far, they have been with big-name photographers like David Shields.

Big things are expected for the 16-year-old in the fashion world, as well in acting due to her thespian roots.

Davy, as she’s known by her family, is the youngest in one of New Zealand’s most successful acting families with parents being actor, director and celebrated acting coach Dame Miranda Harcourt and writer and director Stuart McKenzie. Her grandmother is acting great Dame Kate Harcourt.

With Thomasin, who is seven years older than Davida, now based in London and continuing to add to her glittering career, and eldest brother Peter, based in New York, already an esteemed journalist, it is no wonder Davida is adding a few other strings to her bow.

And it’s not just modelling and acting; Wellington-born-and-raised Davida is a singer too.

As an actor, she is represented by Gail Cowan in NZ and has representation in the US too.

She may have followed her sister around film sets with her parents in the US and Europe when she was younger but she is slowly carving out a respectable acting resume.

The emerging actor has worked on a number of short films and worked with a variety of directors including Jane Campion, Luc Besson, Vincent Ward and most recently with Camille Griffin in British movie Silent Night in 2020. In the dark but festive comedy she was called a golden find by the Daily Mail alongside A-list cast members Keira Knightley, Roman Griffin Davis and Lily-Rose Depp.

The year before that, Kiwi audiences will have caught her in an episode of Mean Mums and last year in the Waka Kotahi “Speed Gets In The Way” TV commercial.

Next up, Davida features in the forthcoming film Speedway, which follows the unsolved “Burger Chef Murders” of 1978 that claimed the lives of four teenagers in Speedway, Indiana.