Wes Bentley first gained fame in 1999’s critically acclaimed American Beauty, but turned to drugs to “escape expectations.” For the next 10 years, his promising career languished as a result of broken meetings with top directors and lackluster performances.
“I wasn’t bringing my A game to any of them,” he told The Hollywood Reporter of auditions in the early 2000s. “I don’t know if I was bringing my B game. I just kind of didn’t care and [was] coasting.”
Adding that heroin took a quick and powerful hold on him, Wes only filmed a small handful of movies between 1999 and 2005. One of those rare performances paired him up with Heath Ledger and the two quickly bonded.
“At one point we were as close as two people could get without being blood,” Wes said.
When Heath died in 2008 from a prescription drug overdose, Wes was nearing his own personal low. Just arrested for heroin possession and in serious debt to the IRS, Wes realized it was time for a change. So that’s what he did: Wes got sober in 2009, married his second wife in 2010 and welcomed his first child a short while later.
Wes has also made some drastic professional changes. He reconnected with directions he previously passed up on and is once again one of the most in-demand actors in the industry.
The degree of luck involved in all of that isn’t lost on Wes.
“I’ve been given this second chance, and I’m going to do everything I can with it,” he said.
