In writer/director, Nenad Cicin-Sain‘s gorgeously complex new film The Time Being, Wes Bentley plays a creatively gifted dreamer prone to extended moments of melancholic staring… sound a bit familiar? It will for anyone who remembers the one-time Julliard student’s portrayal of mysterious and tortured neighbor, Ricky Fitts, in Sam Mendes’s Oscar-Winning 1999 film, American Beauty. Although, aside from a propensity toward intense thought, and the presence of those penetrating baby-blues, Mr. Bentley’s new role has little in common with his iconic breakthrough. In fact, after a meteoric rise to fame, as well as the inevitable cool-down that followed, this latest part is a perfect testament to the former next-big-thing’s mature, prolific, and above all else, diverse second act.
When Bentley appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair’s annual Hollywood Issue in 2000 alongside a who’s who of hot young actors at the time (Selma Blair, Paul Walker, Marley Shelton) it was all but assumed that this buzzy star was the real one to watch. Equipped with matinee idol looks, talent to spare, and coming off of American Beauty’s Oscar Win for Best Picture, it seemed that the possibilities for him were as limitless as the number of scripts being sent his way. Unfortunately, despite some interesting and diverse choices, the movies that followed, including Michael Winterbottom’s The Claim and Shekar Kapur’s The Four Feathers, opposite Kate Hudson and a pre- Brokeback Heath Ledger, each failed to connect with audiences in quite the same way that American Beauty had.
Though he worked steadily throughout the aughts, bouncing between studio fare (Ghost Rider, Jonah Hex) and more intimate if forgettable indie films (Weirdsville, The Last Word) the pressures of living up to his initial success eventually took their toll on Bentley. By 2009, creatively burnt out and dealing with a chronic substance abuse addiction that had not only stalled his career, but also watched him progress from ecstasy to cocaine and heroin, and get arrested in 2008 for possession and counterfeiting, he made a conscious decision to step away from acting and finally conquer these demons. Sobriety and passion for his profession renewed, he emerged in 2010 alongside Tony-Winner Nina Arianda for David Ives’s Off-Broadway triumph, Venus in Fur; the reviews were rapturous, the shows were sold out, and Wes Bentley 2.0 was in full effect.
First, he filmed his much talked-about role as Seneca Crane in a small 2012 film called The Hunger Games, opposite an actress that you may have heard of… Jennifer Lawrence. Next, the actor rolled up his sleeves and got to work, making no less than ten movies in less than three years, including the Amanda Seyfried-starring Linda Lovelace biopic, Lovelace, Terrence Malick’s Knight of Cups with Natalie Portman and Christian Bale, and of course, Cicin-Sain’s The Time Being in which he delivers a sensitively calibrated performance that might just be his best yet, opposite Frank Langella.
CLICK HERE to see photos of Wes Bentley and Christian Bale working on Knight of Cups.
Apparently though, that wasn’t enough to keep the diligent thespian happy, because come 2014 he’ll start filming Ryan Murphy’s new HBO series, Open, alongside another former heartthrob, Scott Speedman. Billed as an exploration of sexuality in all of it’s modern forms, this one promises to provide even more water-cooler moments care of the Ryan Murphy hit-factory. Needless to say, Vanity Fair, you guys only got it half right, Mr. Bentley is Hot in Hollywood. … but he’s also hard-working, passionate, and at last, fulfilled there too.
CLICK HERE to watch a clip featuring Wes Bentley and Frank Langella in”The Time Being.”