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The world ofYellowstoneand its elusive cowboy fantasy has given us enough drama to keep the bored mind occupied for the next semester. But for Kevin Costner and Wes Bentley’s John and Jaime Dutton, peace is a thing of the distant future.
![Wes Bentley and Kelly Reilly in Yellowstone [Credit: Paramount Network]](https://i2.wp.com/fwmedia.fandomwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/07160341/Wes-Bentley-and-Kelly-Reilly-in-Yellowstone-Credit-Paramount-Network-1024x576.jpg)
Meanwhile, as theYellowstonefamily tears itself apart from the inside out, the outside world moves on at a relatively slower pace, with nothing but reminiscing memories to survive on. One of those memories involves Wes Bentley and his breakout success story,American Beauty.
Wes Bentley Learns a Lesson From Chris Cooper
Yellowstonemay have brought global and unparalleled success toWes Bentleyin the years since 2018, but fame came knocking at his door decades earlier in the form of Sam Mendes’ feature directorial debut,American Beauty.
In an interview held byEntertainment Weeklyin 2023, Bentley, star of such projects asHunger GamesandAmerican Horror Story, spoke out on the subject of his breakout film which premiered in 1999.
![Wes Bentley and Chris Cooper in American Beauty [Credit: DreamWorks Pictures, Universal Pictures]](https://i2.wp.com/fwmedia.fandomwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/07160138/Wes-Bentley-and-Chris-Cooper-in-American-Beauty-Credit-DreamWorks-Pictures-Universal-Pictures.jpg)
Recalling a particular day during filming that left a lasting impression on him and his career, Bentley said:
Chris Cooper – he played my father, the Colonel. The scene where he comes, bursts in and beats up Ricky, Chris was off in another room yelling in this worked up space, and I remember him off in that room yelling, and I was like, ‘Wow, this is amazing… and distracting.’
But then I remember that moment of thinking, ‘Oh, I need to use this.’ I listened to him do that and it was working for me. I was scared and I was intimidated and I was like, ‘I’m going to use this.’ So he came bursting through the door and I was able to take that. It was kind one of those moments when I realized, in acting, you gotta use everything. you may’t limit ideas.
Acting is not about comfort. It’s very uncomfortable. So, you know you’re doing it right when, at least in some roles and situations,it isuncomfortable.
![Wes Bentley in American Beauty [Credit: DreamWorks Pictures, Universal Pictures]](https://i2.wp.com/fwmedia.fandomwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/07160247/Wes-Bentley-in-American-Beauty-Credit-DreamWorks-Pictures.jpeg)
Understandably, it was not the legendary Kaiser Soze butChris Cooper, an icon in the acting world with more cult classic hits to his name than the rest of the cast combined, who was able to leave an impression on Wes Bentley, that would endure to this day in his career.
“He’s definitely a good actor”: Kevin Spacey Breaks Down on Camera in Piers Morgan Interview After Revealing His Millions of Dollars Debt
Alongside other heavy hitters likeKevin Spacey, Annette Bening, and Peter Gallagher, theYellowstoneactor left a mark of his own in this powerful story which carried him down the road until he reached Taylor Sheridan’s doorstep.
American BeautyWas Not Kind to Wes Bentley
Taylor Sheridanhas had as much luck with acting in Hollywood as water to a wet stone. But in Wes Bentley, he found a shared soul, in terms of how both aspired to be great in their respective art forms only to have their paths altered, leading to an even greater success story than they ever dreamed was possible.
For Sheridan, the alteration came when he was canned fromSons of Anarchyin 2014. For Wes Bentley, however, his path altered after the breakout success ofAmerican Beauty. From Hollywood after parties to nightclubs, his journey was laced with drugs and alcohol, and soon enough, benign experiments with hallucinogens turned into a raging addiction to heroin and cocaine.
It was in those early years of his precipitous descent that he crossed paths with a bright-eyedHeath Ledgerwho reached out a helping hand. Refusing it at first, he went on to regret it later whenTheDark Knightstar tragically passed away in 2008.
“I was at death’s door”: Robert Downey Jr. Became Real Life Superhero By Saving Wes Bentley From Deadly Drug Addiction, Helped Him Roar Back into Stardom
However, from there, his story took on a path mirroring the arc of another legendary CBM actor,Robert Downey Jr.Meeting the love of his life (and future wife) promptly turned him to the light side of the force, turning him sober for good. Since 2010, his rise to success saw him bagging roles in films and television series likeThe Hunger Games,Interstellar,American Horror Story,We Are Your Friends,Mission: Impossible — Fallout, andYellowstone.
American Beautyis available for streaming on MGM+ and Paramount+
Diya Majumdar
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2408
Diya Majumdar is a Senior Content Writer at FandomWire with over 2000 published articles on the website. Since 2022, she has been working as an entertainment journalist with a special focus on films and pop culture.Among the countless genres and themes of Hollywood, the ones that particularly favor Diya’s tastes include Game of Thrones, DC, and well-aged thrillers and classics.
