Actor Wes Bentley, also known as Seneca Crane in “The Hunger Games,” shares two children with his wife of ten years, Jacqui Swedberg. She is actually his second wife.
Born in September 1978, Wes Bentley has been active in the entertainment industry since the mid-90s when he appeared in “Serendipity Lane” and “Three Below Zero.”
His career Skyrocketed in 1999 after he was cast as Ricky Fitts in “American Beauty.” Unfortunately, Bentley struggled with heroin and cocaine abuse – his coping mechanism to “escape expectations.”
Wes Bentley during an interview with "Young Hollywood" in July 2013 | Photo: YouTube/Young Hollywood
WES BENTLEY’S DRUG ADDICTION
According to Independent, Bentley grew up in Arkansas with his minister father. After going to Hollywood, he got caught in the “glamour of the nightlife,” a facet of life he had never seen before.
His drug addiction negatively impacted his career. Apart from losing the chance to work with Ang Lee and Tim Burton, he could only appear in one film, “The Game of Their Lives,” between 2003 and 2006.
To make matters worse, Wes Bentley’s unhealthy lifestyle also broke his relationship with his first wife, actress Jennifer Quanz, and put him in “serious debt” due to unpaid credit cards.
Although Bentley was slowly watching his acting skills going to waste because of the drugs, he kept using. That was until 2009, shortly after his friend Heath Ledger died from a prescription overdose.
He’s not ashamed of [his addiction struggles].
At that point, he had already gone to rehab once and pleaded guilty to heroin possession. He went to rehab a second time – after acknowledging that he’d die without help – and got clean. About it, he said:
“At 20, I was too young and too unprepared for stardom. I took myself too seriously. You have to have a sense of humor about fame at that point.”
WES BENTLEY’S WIFE, JACQUI
Wes Bentley added that young actors have to understand that people feel things through them or the characters they’re playing; “it’s not real, and it’s not about you.”
After getting his life back on track, Bentley found love again in Jacqui Swedberg, a producer known for working in the TV comedy series “Corner Gas” for two years.
While the couple likes to keep most details of their relationship away from the spotlight, it is known that they started dating in 2008, two years before getting married and welcoming their first kid, Charles.
Brooklyn, Bentley and Swedberg’s daughter, was born in 2014. One year later, the “Yellowstone” star told People that he didn’t know he would love being a dad “so much.”
According to Bentley, his children are the ones who put his life into perspective as whenever he feels stressed, he remembers he’s doing everything for them, and it “lightens” his heart.
The actor also revealed that he didn’t want his children to watch “American Horror Story: Hotel.” Apart from the bloody scenes, his character was involved in a few sex scenes.
BENTLEY’S OPEN TO ADDICTION STORIES
Wes Bentley admitted that, since he’s married, sex scenes are “uncomfortable.” Even if he wasn’t, those scenes are “the most awkward” ones to shoot, and it’s always uncomfortable for a relationship.
Talking to The Guardian, Bentley said that although some of his projects (“AHS: Hotel” and “Knight of Cups”) deal with addiction, it’s not something he’s intentionally sought out to explore his past.
However, he has always been open to those kinds of stories because he can work with them. Bentley added that he has been open about his addiction struggles because he’s not ashamed of it.
The actor admitted that shame was partly what kept him in that dark void, and once he shook that off, he got free. Nowadays, Wes Bentley is one of the main stars in “Yellowstone,” renewed for a third season.
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