Will McKenzie
William "Will" McKenzie (born 12 January 1992) is a fictional character from the E4 coming-of-age British sitcom The Inbetweeners. Portrayed by Simon Bird, he made his first appearance during the pilot episode "First Day", broadcast on 1 May 2008. He appears in every episode of the series, as well as appearing in the follow-up films The Inbetweeners Movie (2011) and The Inbetweeners 2 (2014).
He serves as the narrator in the show and is therefore the principal character. The series and films focus on Will's struggle with socialising during his period between childhood and adulthood, from ages 16-19. He has many nicknames, the most common being "Briefcase Wanker". Will is the youngest of the four boys.
Characterisation[edit | edit source]
Will is the central character and the narrator of the show as well. In the first episode, Will starts his first day in his new school with a briefcase, which leads to him being nicknamed "Briefcase Wanker". He is the most unpopular of the four leads, with special attention from Mark Donovan, and Mr Gilbert, albeit for reasons that were his own fault. He's portrayed to be obviously smug about his own maturity above the state school students and this ultimately is key reason for his verbal abuse.
Will is the shortest of the four leads. He wears glasses and carries a briefcase, all of which make him stand out as an easy target to bully. He also almost-uniquely wears the school blazer, again making him stand out. His posh accent is also commented on, a result of his private education. Despite this, he is admired by a few girls throughout the series and films, likely due to his intelligence and wit. In the first season, he "pulls" Charlotte Hinchcliffe, which earns him the grudging admiration of the group. He also has romantic encounters with Daisy, Kerry and later, Alison during the first film and Katie during the second film. He was also asked to model for the fashion show by Carli, who is generally friendly to him but Will was rejected by Lauren and Rachel.
Will is the least popular and most mocked of the four boys. Most of the school, particularly the sixth formers, mock him, due to his different social class, though all praise him for his organisation of the Christmas prom in Series 1. Will is the most sceptical of the group towards Jay's lies and despite his intelligence and overall level-headedness, is occasionally prone to launching into extremely inappropriate or offensive rants. Mark Donovan hates him, mainly due to the attention he receives from his ex-girlfriend Charlotte. Out of the four, Will is closest to Simon and they generally end up in the most bother of the group, either by their own actions or by the actions of Jay and Neil.
Character History[edit | edit source]
Background[edit | edit source]
Will moves from an un-named private school to a local sixth form comprehensive school because his mother, Polly, can no longer afford the private school fees. Will's parents have recently separated, due to his father having an affair with a woman four years older than Will, but his mother attributes the school move to bullying.
Series 1[edit | edit source]
On moving to the new school, Simon, Neil and Jay become Will's friends after initially trying to avoid him. Will is best known for his upper-class mannerisms, which makes him an even bigger target for bullies than he would have been at his old school. While he displays a deadpan cynicism during narration and among the other boys, he can be overwhelmingly optimistic, much to the ire of Mr. Gilbert. Will is also quite stubborn, getting into arguments when he feels wronged and quickly escalating into shouting at the person he is arguing with. These situations are always followed by a moment of humiliation for Will. He is an unconventional hero - although he is generally the wittiest and most level-headed of the group, he is prone to making bad choices and outrageous remarks.
He is generally sophisticated, sensible and possesses intelligence that surpasses that of his friends. Another dominant characteristic is his tendency to deliver sarcastic, dry humoured remarks, some of which get him into trouble. Will also appears to follow certain ethical laws, though is not above occasionally committing dubious acts, such as purchasing alcohol illegally, insulting Neil's father while intoxicated, and accidentally insulting people who are disabled, among others.
Series 2[edit | edit source]
Will aspires to have a career in law or maybe the media, and was supposed to be attending a local newspaper office for work experience. However, a mix-up with applications sends Neil to the newspaper office (instead of "driving aeroplanes") and Will spends his placement at a garage, where he ultimately fails to fit in and gets bullied by the staff working there. At the end of the second series, when the boys face exams, Will began to crack under pressure and relies on energy drinks to keep him awake - believing that if he didn't sleep he can spend more time revising. This plan unfortunately backfires, leading to him soiling himself during his final exam, and after completing it several hours late, he goes to the pub and downs three pints of lager, compensating for the fact that he has probably failed his Politics AS level.
He is interested in Charlotte "Big Jugs" Hinchcliffe, and the two of them have been known to spend time together, with Will accidentally ruining their relationship. He nearly lost his virginity to Charlotte after telling her in school a few days prior that he had had numerous lovers, although when they did attempt to have sex, Charlotte was let down by Will's unsuccessful attempt; in his own words, "rubbing up against the perineum".
Series 3[edit | edit source]
In Series 3, Will is convinced to go on a double date with Simon, Tara, and Tara's friend, Kerry (or "Big Kerry" according to Will). He is repulsed by her as she is taller than he is, and is rather ditzy and boring; however once he hears how she is known for fellating her last few boyfriends, he continues his relationship with her. They unexpectedly share a kiss when Kerry escorts him back home, which gives her the impression that they are now dating. At Neil's eighteenth birthday party, Will causes outrage by attempting to harshly break-up with Kerry, not knowing that her father had died a month previously, and that Tara had arranged their relationship to comfort her. Will later attempts to arrange a final camping holiday with the lads before they go their separate ways after leaving school. Will is the only character out of the four to never pass his driving test; this is in large part due to the fact his mother did not sign him up for driving lessons on his 17th birthday as she thought the minimum age was 18.
Films[edit | edit source]
In The Inbetweeners Movie, the group go on holiday to Malia in Greece after leaving school, where Will meets Alison, a woman with a similar personality to him. Despite Alison initially acting distant towards Will's advances, owing to the fact that she already has a boyfriend, they become closer and she suggests they go skinny dipping one night. At the beach the following night, Alison strips naked in front of Will, imploring him to do the same before placing his hand on her breast, and they appear to be growing closer until she catches her boyfriend having sex with another woman and runs off crying. They ultimately reconcile at a boat party later that week, where Alison admits to Will that she really likes him. Will affirms that he likes her as well and they begin a relationship which lasts for their final duration of their holiday in Malia and for an unspecified time after although they break up before the events of the second film. It is unknown why Will and Alison broke up although it's possibly due to his unpopularity, awkwardness, lack of sexual experience, tendency to launch into offensive rants, long distance (as Will went to university in Bristol) or another unspecified reason. Their breakup is kept ambiguous and Alison isn't seen again.
In the events of the second film, Will is ostracised by fellow students in Bristol and admits to Simon and Neil that he is unhappy there. On Jay's recommendation, they decide to surprise him and visit him in Australia. In Sydney, Will bumps into Katie, a classmate from his private school and becomes attracted to her.
Meeting Katie's backpacker friends, Will is determined to fit in with them but is quickly dismissed as a "tourist" rather than a traveller and passive-aggressively mocked, particularly by Ben. In an effort to impress Katie, he tries to adopt a "traveller" persona. Will manages to seduce Katie and they have a sexual encounter in the hostel dormitory but unbeknown to him, she passes out from alcohol and a fellow backpacker who walked in, assumes he is sexually assaulting her, triggers a rape alarm that Polly had got him earlier.
Later, Will argues with his friends as they plan to travel to Birdsville to find Jane while he wants to stay in Byron Bay with Katie. Finding that he couldn't fit in with the backpacker personalities and after finding out that Katie is sleeping with multiple men, including Ben, he launches into a rant and later catches up with his friends in Birdsville.
Afterwards, the group travel around Southeast Asia and upon arrival back in the UK, Will learns that Polly is engaged to Mr Gilbert and attempts to run back to the plane, being tackled by security while doing so.
Relationships[edit | edit source]
Friendships[edit | edit source]
Simon Cooper: Though at first Simon is embarrassed by him, and tells him to "hang back" on the way to the Sixth Form common room, they eventually start to become friends, and by later episodes, they have become best friends, with Simon coming to Will first with his problems. They share similar beliefs and this may be the reason they bonded so quickly. They act, together, as the level-headed, more mature part of the group, with Will severely missing Simon when he gets a girlfriend and spends less time with him. Will even states he's glad, at the end of the episode, that Simon was dumped by Tara, because he can get him back as a friend. Will is also the one who holds Jay and Neil back from moving in when Simon is talking to Tara, and Simon is the first to tell him that he needs to lay off the energy drinks at exam time.
Will also feels confident enough to confide in Simon about the loss of all his pubic hair (a result of Jay and Neil's pranks) and even asks him to look at it, but Simon tells him that "friendship only goes so far", and refuses to do so. Simon also comes to him first when Tara needs someone for her friend to date, and he calls Will in the last episode to tell him he is going "to touch Carli in her bedroom", to which Will rushes out to save him like "a superhero in pyjamas". He fails, and Simon gets the wrong room, but that's besides the point. Simon says that Will is just as "stupid as the rest of us" and only his accent makes him sound smart, but his car had been dumped in the lake and he was venting his feelings, so Will forgives him, even burning his own stuff to cheer him up.
Jay Cartwright: Will has a complicated relationship with Jay. Along with Simon, he is also often affected by Jay's behaviour, although is usually more patient with him. The two bicker constantly, coming from different social classes. Jay also performs pranks on Will sometimes and can often be the main source of Will's bother. But they have had their friendlier moments, like when Charlotte humiliated Will, Jay seemed to feel some sympathy for him. Will also comforts Jay when Chloe dumps him. Jay also shows care for Will in the first movie when he prevents him from falling asleep on an ants nest. By the second movie it is still evident that Jay cannot regard Will a full friend yet, as he ignores Will while introducing the group to his uncle Bryan. Although, their friendship improves in the desert scene. They become full friends in the second movie.
Neil Sutherland: Neil's blatant stupidity makes him a source of frustration for Will, along with the fact that he shows the most attraction for Will's mum. Neil also has a habit of unintentionally grossing Will out, doing things like sticking his bare bottom in Will's face, and drunkenly pissing on him when they shared a bed together. However, despite Neil's infuriation towards Will, Neil shows a much stronger liking and level of affection to him than Jay throughout the series, such as in the series 3 finale, Neil admits that he worries about Will and asks Simon if he wants both himself and Jay to look after him when he moves to Wales.
In the movie, Will and Neil have a moment alone where Neil reveals that he's an atheist and as such tries to make the most out of life. This changes Will's opinion of him somewhat. They develop a full and strong friendship in the first movie and maintain it throughout the second.
Romances[edit | edit source]
Charlotte Hinchcliffe: Charlotte took a shine to Will when he managed to engage her in conversation, treating her like an actual person and not a sex object. Charlotte likes Will enough to make out with him and allow him to feel her up, but not have sex. When Charlotte asks if Will is still a virgin, he loses his cool and makes up a ludicrous story, which works in his favour as it gets him into bed with Charlotte...then immediately works against him when she finds out how bad at sex he is.
After that, Charlotte loses all romantic interest in Will, though she still sees him as a friend, by how she compliments him in the series 1 finale and implies she didn't go out with him for "a bet". By series 2, their friendship goes downhill, after the incidents in "Work Experience". Will begins to show interest in other girls during the latter half of series 2 such as Rachel and Daisy after finding Charlotte in bed with Simon's French exchange student in "Will's Birthday" - ultimately destroying his confidence that she still has romantic interest in him. Will, however, reconsiders this in series 3 when Charlotte asks him to model in the cat walk show with her. Although, Will is again met with disappointment at the end of the episode and completely accepts that he has no chance of ever forming a relationship with Charlotte, when she tells him that, even though she finds him endearing, she would still rather go out with someone else. Will obsesses over her for a little while, constantly mentioning her throughout series 3, but by the time he finishes school he seems to have got over her, as he admits to never having sexual intercourse with a girl to Alison, ignoring that one time he was with Charlotte.
Daisy: In series 2 episode 5, Will meets his former babysitter Daisy at his mum's barbecue. She reveals that while studying at University she is doing a part time job at the retirement home in the area. Will (due to his attraction to her) then asks if he, Simon and Neil could do their Duke of Edinburgh Award voluntary work at the very same retirement home, which she accepts. While working at the retirement home, Will offers to cover Daisy for her day and night shift the next day so she could attend her friend's party, he also offers to take her out to dinner (for the repayment she promised) which she agrees to, despite being uncomfortable over Will's young age. Will falls asleep in the common room the next day, due to the night shift. Jay and Neil perform a prank on him by pouring hair removal cream into his underwear. As a result, all of Will's pubic hair fell out when he returned home. While asking Simon for advice to cover up losing his pubes, Simon suggests storing a wig to stand in for pubic hair-which Will first thinks is a ridiculous idea, but while panicking when picking Daisy up from the retirement home, he quickly stuffs one of the elderly's wigs into his underwear. After the dinner date, Daisy (now attracted to Will) takes Will home and begins to make out with him. She attempts to have sex with him, but gets put off when she discovers the wig. She believes Will is too young for her due to him not having any pubic hair and asks him to leave, this causes their relationship to end. Will attempts to reconcile with Daisy the next day, but she is too embarrassed to talk to him. Daisy is not seen or mentioned again.
Alison: Will shows a strong interest in Alison, due to Alison having a similar, though less awkward, personality. Even though Alison already has a boyfriend, Will has faith that she'll notice him. Will develops strong confidence that Alison would go out with him when she admits that she believes Will is "cute" after he reveals he is a virgin. When they meet up in the bar, Alison promises Will that if he was still a virgin by next year and if she wasn't still with Nikos, she would have sex with him. When the boys and girls go skinny-dipping, Alison strips naked in front of Will, then tells him to do the same. She then lets Will feel her breast, and it seems as though there might be a spark between them. Though, when she finds Nikos with another women, she leaves heartbroken and retracts her promise with Will.
At the boat party, she confides in Will that despite his many flaws, he is still more dependable. She then asks him to be her boyfriend and the two spend the rest of their holidays together. It is revealed that Alison dumped Will before the events of the second movie but it is unknown why. Katie Evans: Katie is a previous girl that Will befriended in his previous school. She likes him enough to kiss him on the lips, even though Will attempts to kiss her right back, but it fails. Katie is quite confident and beautiful and sees a spiritual path in Will which impresses her. At the campsite, Katie sits next to Will by the fire. she gives Will a friendship bracelet and asks to play her a song with the guitar. Despite trying to grab it off Ben, Will plays a bad version of "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" for her which surprisingly leads to Katie seducing and attempting to have sex with Will, but fails as unknown to him, she passes out from intoxication while he is fingering her and a backpacker girl who walks in and assumes he is sexually assaulting her, triggers an alarm.
The next day Katie reveals that she is not serious as him what happened during the night; which disappoints Will, but he still attempts to pull her. But luck begins to fade after a "song line" ceremony as Will struggles to fit in with the backpacker activities and Katie confirms that she is having casual sex with multiple men, including Ben, which annoys Will and he leaves her company. When he gets back to his old friends he disposes of the friendship bracelet, ending Katie's and Will's friendship for good.
Family[edit | edit source]
Polly McKenzie: Will's mum is totally oblivious to Will's personal life, though she still manages to smother him with parental concern. She also shows some insensitivity towards Will's feelings, going as far as to tell him that he didn't stand a chance with Charlotte Hinchcliffe and should go for one of the "plainer" girls.
She becomes engaged to Mr Gilbert at the end of the second movie.
Mr. McKenzie: Unlike Will's mum, who pampers Will, Will's dad shows absolutely no interest in his son. In their one scene together, Will's dad shows that he is disappointed that his only son would turn out so socially inept. Will, despite all of this, seems to want his dad's admiration, but doesn't quite know how to get it. In that regard, Will's relationship with his dad is a lot like his relationship with Mr. Gilbert. This changes, however, at the end of the movie, after Will sends his father a photo of him and Alison together, thus showing him that he is more 'normal' than his father thought and thereby earning his long-awaited respect.
Enemies[edit | edit source]
Mr. Gilbert: Mr Gilbert hated Will from the moment he met him. Mr Gilbert serves as the main antagonist to the four protagonists of the Inbetweeners, though antagonises Will the most. Will thinks he is a "wanker", but as he is the head of his year and Will's UCAS referee, he shows a grudging respect for him. This feeling is somewhat mutual, as Gilbert frequently allows Will to represent the school in various events such as the Christmas Prom and the Duke of Edinburgh. According to Mr. Gilbert, this is less due to Will's trustworthiness but more due to the fact that he could "break" Will if he fell out of line.
Mr. Gilbert takes a deranged pleasure in Will's torment, going as far as to look the other way whenever he gets physically abused. At the end of the second movie, Mr Gilbert starts a relationship with Will's mother and, in the credits scenes, it is revealed they have become engaged, resulting in him becoming Will's future step-father, much to Will's horror.
Mark Donovan: Donovan and Will have an antagonistic relationship. This is only intensified when Donovan catches Will with Charlotte Hinchcliffe, his ex-girlfriend. Donovan finds Will's mum attractive, so he lets Will get away with more than he would any other student, whom he hates as much as Will, though he still threatens to kill him on a regular basis.
Alistair Scott: Alistair appears in the first episode of Series 3. He is a student at Rudge Park, though has been absent all year due to kidney failure. He returns to view the cat walk that is raising money for his hospital. Will, at first, feels sympathy for him, though Alistair seems to take an instant disliking to Will by taking disgust towards Will, being "the kid who shit himself in an exam", and seems to address Will as ugly. He constantly annoys Will, and bullies him over his disliking of the show. Alistair also threatens to beat Will up, despite Will trying to apologise to him. By the end of the episode, Will agrees with Jay's claim that Alistair is a "dick", and has an argument with him, which is interrupted by Simon and Carli. Alistair runs after Carli when she is embarrassed over Simon ruining her cat walk finale, and does not appear again.
Ben Thornton-Wild: At first Will thought Ben would be friendly towards him, but then his sour and a dick attitude made Will dislike him, becoming the primary antagonist for him in the second film. Will thinks that Ben is a hypocrite and somewhat boring and pretentious. After Katie kisses Ben in front of Will, he outbursts all of Ben's faults, despite Ben beginning to become a little bit more friendly to him.
Reception[edit | edit source]
For his portrayal as Will, Bird has won the 2008 British Comedy Award for "Best Male Newcomer" and the 2009 British Comedy Award for "Best Actor". He was also nominated for "Best Comedy Performance" at the 2008 Royal Television Society Awards, and "Best Male Performance" in a Comedy Programme at the 2009 BAFTA Awards.
While The Inbetweeners Movie received mixed reviews from American critics, Bird's performance was met with praise. Steve Rose of The Guardian gave the film three stars out of five, giving particular praise to Simon Bird's performance and arguing that the film "updates the teen summer holiday formula surprisingly entertainingly, considering it doesn't subvert its one iota and the formula was already done previously with Holiday on the Buses and Kevin & Perry Go Large among others."
Trivia[edit | edit source]
- He is the only member of the group to be an only child. He does however have an identical Jewish Cousin named Adam Goodman.
- He has hyperreflexia, as mentioned in Series 1.
- He was one of the inventors of the 'thumbs up friends' joke, along with Simon.
- In "The Field Trip", he revealed that he used to go to Scouts, and attempted to perform First Aid on Simon after he fell into the sea.
- In "The Camping Trip", he revealed he only has five contacts on his mobile phone. Three are the other boys, one is his mum and one is an unknown person.
- According to his mum, when he was five, he urinated himself on the ghost train at a funfair.
- In the movie, His mum told the group at a wedding, when Will was seven, he drank a lot of shandy and started running around in his pants shouting: "I've got a white slug."
- He is somewhat able to play the guitar.
