Wes Bentley’s breakthrough role came as the sensitive and introverted next door neighbor in the critically acclaimed film American Beauty. Since then Bentley’s appeared in a batch of films including a couple in which he plays the bad guy. Bentley gave Nicolas Cage a hard time as the villain in Ghost Rider and in P2, a thriller from first-time director Franck Khalfoun, Bentley stars as a security guard who stalks and then kidnaps a pretty businesswoman (played by Rachel Nichols) who becomes trapped in the parking garage Bentley’s character patrols.
Who Exactly is Thomas?: Bentley said he didn’t create an extensive backstory for his P2 character. “Usually, when I’m there doing it, that stuff is in my head. I don’t do any writing about it or anything like that. The way I approach a character is I kind of open myself up and let myself go, all my issues, all the things I deal with, and kind of rent out my body to the character,” explained Bentley. “Those kind of issues are there, but I don’t treat them as essential because we don’t treat them as essential. You don’t think about those kinds of things. You don’t think about what makes you this way or that way. In a way, that’s judging. You can’t judge a character. You can’t say he’s good or bad. You have to let it be the way it is. Otherwise, you do a caricature, I think.
I don’t think like that but, at the same time, those things are there. He has his background. I can feel it and have a sense of it. Sometimes I thought he was a foster child. At times I felt like he had a too overbearing mother. I didn’t really know. I think he might have been such a compulsive liar that he didn’t know any more. Every psychological problem there is, he definitely had (laughing). That includes pathological liar, sociopath. When we were doing it, I could name them all. Again, those are things you can’t think about when you’re acting.”
Sinking His Teeth Into Roles: Asked which is more fun to play – the normal guy who loses it or someone just plain evil – Bentley replied, “Acting always is fun. I did a film called The Last Word which was draining, but still I enjoy it. You play make-believe. I’m not a method actor. I don’t take it home with me. It comes home with me, but I don’t take it. It’s there but it’s like a kid playing make-believe.
I’ve got a dream job in a sense so. Ghost Rider is fun because it’s like stupid evil and the costumes were great (laughing). And to delve into unlimited evil is interesting. You don’t really know where that is. I still don’t know where that was. But Thomas is limited. He’s human. I really, really wanted to make sure he was human. I also wanted to make him likable, a likable guy you don’t want to like - you shouldn’t like - I should say. You do like, but you shouldn’t like him because he does all these awful things. That’s a person. That’s a human being. But it’s fun to play bizarre, supernatural that doesn’t exist, or at least not for me.”
Working with Rachel Nichols: The two got along well, which was extremely important given the film’s nature and the relationship between the characters. Bentley didn’t stay in character when ‘cut’ was called. “Between ‘action’ and ‘cut’ is my time. It’s my time to play and everything else is downtime, and that’s definitely for fun. Her and I are very close and got close during the filming. Between times, especially since it was such a hard shoot and she had dealt with such grueling conditions, she needed that and I hoped to be that.”
Wes Bentley’s Favorite Scene: Bentley and Nichols spent the first three days shooting the dinner table scene in which Nichols is held against her will. “That was my favorite scene because it's all dialogue and a lot of play between us,” revealed Bentley. “And she's such a great actor that I really, really enjoyed it. It was tough again but that's part of what I loved. That'd be my favorite scene. The rest is just basic action.”
Very little rehearsing was done prior to shooting, with the exception of that one crucial scene. “We really only rehearsed that scene because it's so integral to the movie,” said Bentley. “Without that scene, there's no relationship between us. You would just have my obsession over her which is cliché. But with that scene comes the intricacies and nuanced things that make you nervous about him or make you want to support her, come from that.”
The Film’s 4-Legged Actors: Three dogs were used to play one mean Rottweiler in P2. “One of them was for running, one was for the mean barking stuff and one was for just the look of him,” said Bentley. “The running one was dumb and sweet. He was a really dumb Rottweiler. I love dogs so I loved them all. Even the one that barks, he was sweet. I love dogs so it was great for me but Rachel, unfortunately, was terrified of dogs so she’d take off. But I liked playing with them and stuff.”
Other Projects in the Works: “I did a film called The Last Word with Winona Ryder. He’s a guy who writes suicide notes for other people. That’s his business. It’s dark humor and very draining because he’s a very dark person. I was sort of the straight guy on the humor. Winona Ryder, she did a great job with it. Another film is Weirdsville, which is a dark comedy and it’s kind of floating out there right now. It’s flopping around. I really love it so I’m pushing it as best I can. I think it’s a great film. It’s got cult capability and already has that in Canada. It’s funny as hell. I just play a dumb drug addict, but it’s not about drugs though. The focus of the film is truly just a night of craziness, weirdsville.”
Bentley explained how his character operates in The Last Word: “Actually he waits til the last moment [for payment]. He does drafts with them and sits down with them, has meetings over it. Then they pay cash and that's when he knows they're going. He's emotionless about it, I guess, until he meets her.”
