Lynch's Harry in the Michael Rymer–helmed drama Angel Baby, that McKenzie received international acclaim: The LA Weekly reviewed: "McKenzie is a find. Whether using answers on the Wheel of Fortune as a kind of daily horoscope, or cringing in terror as the upright legs of chairs in an empty restaurant seem to whisper at her, she is blazingly equal to the extremes of animal panic and hyperconscious insight that are the north and south of this movie's humane compass." Angel Baby also featured actress Deborra-Lee Furness and Colin Friels. In 1996, McKenzie was awarded Australian Star of the Year at the Australian Movie Convention. 1996 to 2003 McKenzie ventured to the US, where she starred in the films Deep Blue Sea (1999) directed by Renny Harlin with Samuel L. Jackson, Thomas Jane and Michael Rapaport; Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002) with Sandra Bullock, Ashley Judd, Ellen Burstyn, Kiersten Warren and James Garner; Freak Weather, with Aida Turturro and John Carroll Lynch; Love from Ground Zero with Simon Baker and Pruitt Taylor Vince, as well as tele-movie When Billie Beat Bobby, starring Holly Hunter and Ron Silver. She starred in the UK independent films Eisenstein with Simon McBurney and Kiss Kiss (Bang Bang) with Stellan Skarsgård, Chris Penn and Paul Bettany. In 2001, McKenzie was given a United States green card in March 2001 for "Person of Extraordinary Ability". She made her US theatre debut, starring as Rita in Willy Russell's Educating Rita, at the Williamstown Theatre Festival directed by Bruce Paltrow and co-starring Edward Herrmann. It was a huge success. "This production had the inexhaustible talents of Jacqueline McKenzie, an utterly charming and irrepressible Australian, whose cockney accent was spot on and characterization was full-cocked. Bursting onto the stage like a fire-engine responding to a five-alarm conflagration, McKenzie was a dynamo with enough energy to fill simultaneous performances of this and Pygmalion (a sure bet for her if the WTF wants to bring her back – and it should). Suffice to say, hers will surely be among the most memorable and reason enough to revive Rita." She was cast as a lead in the US television pilot for ABC called MEDS (later MDs), directed by Michael Hoffman and starring John Hannah. She played Dockdaisy in the National Actors Theatre / Complicite co-production of The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, by Bertolt Brecht. Directed by Simon McBurney this cast