‘Yellowstone’ star Wes Bentley opens up about battle with substance abuse

Wes Bentley, the American actor known for his breakout role in the 1999 film ‘American Beauty,’ is opening up about his struggles with drug addiction.

The actor initially revealed his lifelong struggles in a 2010 interview. Bentley explained that his addiction began when he was filming ‘American Beauty,’ and that he continued to use drugs throughout his rise to fame.

He eventually hit rock bottom and realized that he needed to get help. He entered rehab and has been sober ever since. Since then, he has advocated the importance of seeking help for substance abuse.

How it started

More recently he described truly how bad his life became due to drug use and how the people around him tried to help. While speaking to Men’s Health Magazine, Bentley explained how his close friend Health Ledger encouraged him to get help.

“I lost everything in the fire. I had no car, I had no clothes, I had no money — I was $400,000 in debt,” Bentley recalled.

After moving to Hollywood, Bentley started taking mushrooms and ketamine, and while he recognized that can now be a mental health tool for some, it wasn’t for him. For him, the psychedelics just led to more drugs.

“I ended up going down the cocaine and heroin route,” he explained. “Hard drugs. Hard partying. You’re in clubs and you’re at after-parties, and there’s cocaine, and eventually, it became heroin.”

Bentley said he wasn’t “trying to kill myself or anything,” but had competitive energy when it came to taking substances.

“That period was incredibly dark. I did really dangerous stuff. I went downtown. I went and hung with really shady people,” he shared. “That was just me: Go far. Be the guy who went the furthest.”

Heath Ledger’s lasting impact

Before addiction temporarily took over his career, Bentley did a 2002 film ‘The Four Feathers’ with Ledger. The two were close up until the Oscar winner’s shocking death in 2008. Ledger accidentally died from a prescription overdose.

Bentley skipped Ledger’s memorial service because he was high. “I tried to go, but I was really messed up, and I felt like that wasn’t right. So I got out of the cab on the way to it. And that sits with me forever,” he admitted. “That guy loved me. Outside of my family, I’ve never felt love from . . .”

“I’d never felt love,” he continued, “from someone like him. And he didn’t care what I was, or what I was like, the stupid things I was doing. He just wanted me to be better. I always thought of him as a brother, and I wish I could’ve given that back.”

Bentley began sobbing during the interview and recalled how Ledger “even begged me to get sober in an email.”

“Last email, he was beggin’ me. I didn’t, at first, but later, getting sober, I’d think of that email all the time. One from him and one from my dad, begging me to get sober,” he shared.

Thankfully, since that time Bentley has sought out treatment for substance abuse and is no longer using drugs. He is now married with two children and has been sober for over 10 years.