Inside Yellowstone star Wes Bentley's life from six-figure debt to Heath Ledger's 'begging' email

WARNING: This nonfiction contains spoilers from Yellowstone.

Yellowstone play 5 has returned for portion 2 with histrion Wes Bentley backmost arsenic the scheming Jamie Dutton.

The Paramount Network play has been missing for much than a year, but finally, the iconic amusement has made a comeback, though its instrumentality is bittersweet, fixed that the bid is coming to an end.

From his rivalry with sister Beth Dutton (played by Kelly Reilly) to the execution of his biologic dad, Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley) has been astatine the bosom of plentifulness of the show’s biggest storylines.

Now, arsenic the countdown begins until the last episode, Jamie is determining what his adjacent program volition beryllium pursuing the decease of their dad, John Dutton (Kevin Costner).

And present that the amusement has returned, fans are funny to cognize each determination is to cognize astir Jamie prima Wes Bentley.

Early days

Bentley was calved successful September 1978 successful Jonesboro, Arkansas, and raised successful Little Rock, and was the 3rd of 4 sons.

While his dada worked arsenic a minister, his mum was a chaplain and ordained elder, and some of them were successful the United Methodist denomination.

Growing up, helium performed improv alongside his brothers and landed a spot astatine the prestigious Juilliard School, but helium turned it down to get real-life experience.

In 1999, helium landed a relation successful the romanticist drama American Beauty, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Since then, helium has been successful Interstellar, The Hunger Games, American Horror Story, The Four Feathers, Ghost Rider, and After the Fall, conscionable to sanction a few.

Spider-Man

What immoderate Yellowstone fans whitethorn not realise, though, is that the 46-year-old was really a contender to play Peter Parker successful the archetypal Spider-Man movie.

However, Bentley turned down the relation twice, explaining to Men’s Health: “I didn’t privation to bash it because, astatine the time, comic-book movies weren’t appealing. They were not cool.”

Of course, the relation was subsequently filled by histrion Tobey Maguire, who reprised it successful Spider-Man: No Way Home successful 2021.

Drug addiction

Following his occurrence from American Beauty, the histrion got progressive successful the Hollywood enactment country and started doing “hard drugs”, “going down the cocaine and heroin route”.

He admitted that his competitory tone meant that helium wanted to beryllium “the astir awesome cause addict ever”.

He continued: “That play was incredibly dark. I did truly unsafe stuff. I went downtown.

“I went and hung with truly shady people. I wasn’t trying to termination myself oregon anything. That was conscionable me: Go far. Be the feline who went the furthest.”

Referring to his past addiction arsenic “the fire”, helium admitted: “I mislaid everything successful the fire. I had nary car, I had nary clothes, I had nary wealth – I was $400,000 successful debt.”

Marriages

Bentley was joined to histrion Jennifer Quanz from 2001 to 2009, but they reportedly divorced owed to his substance abuse.

He past joined shaper Jacqui Swedberg the pursuing twelvemonth aft gathering portion shooting a movie successful Saskatchewan, Canada.

Bentley has openly said that she was a large crushed wherefore helium wanted to effort and get cleanable for bully aft antecedently going to rehab, lone to relapse later.

He shared, “I met a girl, and this miss was awesome and comic and conscionable had the weirdest consciousness of humor. She made maine laughter and made maine privation to unrecorded again—like, live, live, not spell woody drugs.

Bentley and Swedberg went connected to invited their lad successful 2010, followed by their girl 4 years later.

Heath Ledger’s friendship

Bentley met Brokeback Mountain prima Heath Ledger portion filming the 2002 enactment play The Four Feathers.

The Yellowstone histrion described Ledger arsenic a “brother” who took a beardown involvement successful Bentley's clean-up.

He shared: “He [Ledger] adjacent begged maine to get sober successful an email.

“Last email, helium was beggin’ me. I didn’t, astatine first, but later, getting sober, I’d deliberation of that email each the time."

Ledger died of an accidental cause overdose successful 2008, with Bentley missing the memorial work arsenic helium was “really messed up”.

“I’d ne'er felt emotion from idiosyncratic similar him.

"And helium didn’t attraction what I was, oregon what I was like, the anserine things I was doing. He conscionable wanted maine to beryllium better.

“I ever thought of him arsenic a brother, and I privation I could’ve fixed that back.”

Yellowstone is disposable to ticker connected Paramount Network successful the US and Paramount+ successful the UK.