Youth in Revolt: Jack Dylan Grazer

Irish actor Mark McKenna stars in the volatile teen series that’s “John Wick meets John Hughes”, and it’s getting another shot on Amazon Prime.

Words: Dio Anthony

25th November 2020

Mark McKenna, 24, says he’s only ​“relatively, not extremely” famous in Ireland. That, he argues, is mostly due to everyone having seen his acting debut in the charming 2016 musical Sing Street. Many have yet to see him as the ball-peen hammer-wielding, house-razing, gut-punching crusader in the exhilarating series Wayne, which has been described as ​“John Wick meets John Hughes.”

Wayne (McKenna) is told that his father’s car, a ​‘79 Trans Am, is his for the taking – but it’s in Florida, and Wayne is in Massachusetts. Together with his new girlfriend Del (Ciara Bravo), he Wild Hogs it on a busted road bike down the east coast to retrieve his prize.

Wayne first aired in January of 2019 on YouTube Premium. Its pilot raked in a staggering 41 million views and the entire series received unanimous praise, garnering comparisons to The End of the F***ing World. Like the dumb fate of so many series that showed promise after a first season – the kids-with-no-parents drama The Society, the supernatural Chambers, or the violently Christian Teenage Bounty Hunters – so, too, did Wayne see the chopping block. However, the series didn’t get canned, per se. It got ​“Quibi’d”, meaning YouTube Premium, the platform that hosted it, shuttered.

Nearly two years later, the discourse around this show has once again flared up. As collateral damage, Wayne has now been rehomed on Amazon Prime, where – if its creator Shawn Simmons is to be believed – if enough people watch, it will be greenlit for a second season. Fans of the series are rallying behind it, campaigning on social media for people to stream. And Mark McKenna? He’s sitting pretty in Dublin, mostly focused on making music with his four-piece pop band Milk, hoping beyond hell he can once again play Wayne.

Mark McKenna, 24, says he’s only ​“relatively, not extremely” famous in Ireland. That, he argues, is mostly due to everyone having seen his acting debut in the charming 2016 musical Sing Street. Many have yet to see him as the ball-peen hammer-wielding, house-razing, gut-punching crusader in the exhilarating series Wayne, which has been described as ​“John Wick meets John Hughes.”

Wayne (McKenna) is told that his father’s car, a ​‘79 Trans Am, is his for the taking – but it’s in Florida, and Wayne is in Massachusetts. Together with his new girlfriend Del (Ciara Bravo), he Wild Hogs it on a busted road bike down the east coast to retrieve his prize.

Wayne first aired in January of 2019 on YouTube Premium. Its pilot raked in a staggering 41 million views and the entire series received unanimous praise, garnering comparisons to The End of the F***ing World. Like the dumb fate of so many series that showed promise after a first season – the kids-with-no-parents drama The Society, the supernatural Chambers, or the violently Christian Teenage Bounty Hunters – so, too, did Wayne see the chopping block. However, the series didn’t get canned, per se. It got ​“Quibi’d”, meaning YouTube Premium, the platform that hosted it, shuttered.

Nearly two years later, the discourse around this show has once again flared up. As collateral damage, Wayne has now been rehomed on Amazon Prime, where – if its creator Shawn Simmons is to be believed – if enough people watch, it will be greenlit for a second season. Fans of the series are rallying behind it, campaigning on social media for people to stream. And Mark McKenna? He’s sitting pretty in Dublin, mostly focused on making music with his four-piece pop band Milk, hoping beyond hell he can once again play Wayne.