Wes Bentley revealed that Robert Downey Jr. was his saving grace while battling with a crippling heroin addiction.
Apparently, Downey’s publicly open talks about his own battles with drugs, inspired Bentley to seek help.
“I was in the deepest throes of my addiction and in the worst place and at death’s door, I guess, or at risk of it and I saw him be so bold and brave and open and it saved me,” the “Yellowstone” actor said.
Bentley has now been sober since 2009 and added, “So I thought if I do that too, I can maybe pass that on to somebody else.”
Bentley’s drug addiction began almost immediately after starring in the critically acclaimed 1999 film “American Beauty.”
“I never had money before,” Bentley, 44, said. “So there was a lot of combination of things I wasn’t prepared for. I also knew as an actor that I wasn’t going to be really ready to do good roles until in my 30s and 40s. So I didn’t really want it to happen like that too early. I tried to go with it and hang with it, but I wasn’t ready.”
Bentley, just like Downey, who has been clean since 2003, have spoken openly about their addictions. Downey told New York Times in 2010 that he worked sporadically from 2002 to 2009, purely to earn money to buy drugs.
In 2008, Bentley was arrested and pleaded guilty to heroin possession. He was mandated to 12-step programs but relapsed. Finally, in 2009, he met a guy who would help him kick his drug addiction for good.
“I met a guy who had been sober and didn’t know, that I was struggling,” Bentley said. “He just talked about what a beautiful life he had now, and how he’s looking out the window at the trees, and I missed that. And I thought I want that back.”
“So that’s how that happened. So I just went to meetings and the 12-step meetings really helped me a lot. I already had belief in God, so that kind of helps, the higher power thing,” Bentley added.
Bentley’s career has come roaring back with roles in “American Horror Story: Freak Show” and playing the villainous Jamie Dutton on the hugely popular Western series, “Yellowstone.”
“I feel lucky that I’ve gotten a second chance,” he said.
