Wes Bentley

Wes Bentley is an American actor who first became well-known via his role in the Oscar-winning film "American Beauty" in 1999, in which he played the soulful, artistic next-door neighbor Ricky Fitts. He also portrayed gamemaker Seneca Crane in "The Hunger Games", and co-stars in "Lovelace" as Linda Lovelace's coercive husband Larry Marchiano.

Born September 4, 1978, in Jonesboro, Arkansas, Bentley participated in drama club and cultivated a specific interest in improvisational comedy while attending Sylvan Hills High School in Sherwood, Arkansas, and founded an improv troupe with his brother Patrick Bentley and friends Damien Bunting and Josh Cowdery. At his mother's urging, Bentley attended Juilliard School in New York after high school graduation, but only for a short period of time. Soon afterward, Bentley made his onscreen debut in Jonathan Demme's Beloved (1998).

Following his success in American Beauty, Bentley struggled with substance abuse, which cost him his first marriage to actress Jennifer Quanz. Although he continued to land parts in films, including that of the primary antagonist in "Ghost Rider" and another major role in "The Game of Their Lives," Bentley has publicly admitted that during most of the 2000s he only took on acting roles to earn enough money to buy drugs. Bentley did not enter a 12-step program until 2009. He considers his sobriety to be an ongoing process.

Bentley is one of the main subjects featured in the documentary "My Big Break," which followed him and former roommates Chad Lindberg, Brad Rowe and Greg Fawcett as they struggle to find success within the film industry. In 2010, Bentley made his professional stage debut with Nina Arianda in David Ives's award-winning play "Venus In Fur."