Wes Bentley

Bentley was born in Jonesboro, Arkansas, and raised in Little Rock, the third of four sons of Cherie Baker and David Bentley. His father is a minister, and his mother is a chaplain and ordained elder in the Arkansas Conference, both in the United Methodist denomination. His grandfather was an evangelical minister. He is of German, Scottish, and English descent. In 1996, he graduated from Sylvan Hills High School in Sherwood, Arkansas. He attended the Juilliard School's Drama Division as part of its Group 29 (1996–2000) but left the school after one year to pursue his acting career.Bentley has starred in several films, including the Oscar-winning American Beauty, The Four Feathers, P2, and Ghost Rider. He starred in the thriller Dolan's Cadillac, based on the short story by Stephen King, and There Be Dragons by director Roland Joffé. Bentley is one of the main subjects in the documentary My Big Break, directed by Tony Zierra, which follows Bentley and three of his former roommates, Chad Lindberg, Brad Rowe and Greg Fawcett, as they pursue their dream to become successful actors in Hollywood. In Ghost Rider (2007), Bentley played Blackheart, a demonic being that served as the main antagonist. In 2010, he starred opposite Nina Arianda in the premiere of the David Ives play Venus in Fur off-Broadway at the Classic Stage Company in New York City. The production later moved to Broadway, with Hugh Dancy in the role debuted by Bentley. In March 2012, Bentley had a supporting role in the blockbuster movie The Hunger Games, playing gamemaker Seneca Crane. In 2012, Bentley starred in the indie feature 3 Nights in the Desert, directed by Gabriel Cowan. Bentley and Scott Speedman starred in a pilot episode for a planned HBO series created by Ryan Murphy, Open, but the series was not picked up. The following year, Bentley guest starred in Murphy's FX series American Horror Story for its fourth season, Freak Show. In 2015, he was promoted to the main cast for the fifth season, Hotel, starring as Detective John Lowe. In 2016, he played a main role in the sixth season, Roanoke. Since 2018, he has played Jamie Dutton on Paramount Network's Yellowstone. On Jimmy Kimmel Live! on December 9, 2022, Bentley said he turned down the role of Spider-Man, a role later offered to Tobey Maguire.