Yellowstone: Wes Bentley Hails Robert Downey Jr. For Saving Him From Addiction

Wes Bentley plays Jamie Dutton on the hugely popular modern Western series, Yellowstone to great effect. However, it turns out life hasn’t always been easy for him. In fact, at one stage of his life, he became addicted to heroin. In a recent interview, Bentley claims he has Robert Downey Jr. to thank for getting over his addiction.

Yellowstone star Wes Bentley fights addiction

During the early 2000s, Yellowstone star Wes Bentley was battling heroin addiction. However, with the help of Robert Downey Jr., he managed to overcome his drug addiction. According to Bentley, it was the Iron Man star’s openness about his own struggles that inspired him to get sober.

Speaking to Page Six at the show’s season 5 premiere on Thursday, Bentley, 44, said:

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.

Wes continued, saying that he thought if he does that too, maybe he can pass that on to someone else.

Wes Bentley plays Ricky Fitts in American Beauty

While nowadays, Bentley is a star of Yellowstone, he first rose to fame when he starred as Ricky Fitts in the 1998 movie, American Beauty. However, his appearance in the Best Picture Oscar-winning movie led to him feeling overwhelmed by his sudden success. This led to Wes turning to alcohol and drugs to cope. He said:

I never had money before, so there was a lot of combination of things I wasn’t prepared for.

Bentley added that he also knew, as an actor, that he wasn’t going to be really ready to do good roles until he was in his 30s and 40s. He didn’t really want it to happen like that, too early and tried to go with it, but he wasn’t ready,

Yellowstone star fights addiction

Wes Bentley explained that watching Robert Downey Jr. open up publically about his past drug addiction truly inspired him to seek help.

Meanwhile, in an interview with the New York Times in 2010, the Yellowstone actor described how his addiction spiraled out of control. It got to the point where he no longer cared about acting, despite the fact that he was receiving “stacks of scripts, great scripts, with great offers attached.”

However, Bentley did say that between 2002 and 2009, he would take on the occasional job just to make enough money to feed his addiction. However, in 2008, he was arrested and pleaded guilty to heroin possession. This led to him being ordered to undergo counseling and 12-step programs to fight the addiction. However, he continued to lapse and use heroin until he was once again broke.

Meanwhile, apart from Downey Jr.’s inspiration, he met a man who helped him end the cycle of addiction. He said:

I met a guy who had been sober and didn’t know that I was struggling.

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,” Bentley added.

Meanwhile, fans can see Wes Bentley soon, when season 5 of Yellowstone premieres on November 13.