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Wes Bentley and Rachel Nichols in a scene from P2
The return fthe kl
‘I DON'T WANT TO BE LOCKED INTO BEING AN OSCAR TYPE OF ACT OR'
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Kaleem Aftab unravels the curious story of dropout young star Wes Bentley and his recent comeback
es Bentley was just 2l when he played Ricky I‘itts in .-lim'rit'un Beauty. It turned him into an overnight star. He was nominated for a B.-\l‘"l}\ and l‘eted as the heir to Tom (‘ruise The world was his oyster. l’lastic bags could have been named alter him. Then Bentley surprised everyone by making some risky choices. appearing in Michael \Vinterbottom's laborious 'l'lit' ('luim and Shekhar Kapur's less than heroic 'I'lic I-imr l“i‘(ll/I(’l'.\'. Looking back at The ('luim Bentley says. 'That was an opportunity I really didn't take advantage off The trouble. it seems. was that the young actor had last become disillusioned with the motion picture business. ‘.'\l‘ter .-lmcricun Beauty l was just getting offered the same types of I‘ilms that were geared towards
winning ()scars.’ he says. ‘I wanted to do a variety of
things and I doth want to be locked into being an Oscar type of actor. l‘or me. it |winning ()scarsl doesn‘t mean you're any better. it jttst means that you‘re locked into that genre. The prolile is huge. but getting a huge prol'ile is anti what I want to do — acting is an illusion and I don‘t want to lose my illusion by people knowing what I was ottt doing on a liriday night.‘
So. in 2002. at the grand old age ol‘ 23. Bentley quit acting. He got married and spent his time heading out on a number of road trips. Intriguineg. it was Bentley‘s loye ol‘ football (or 'socccr‘ as he calls it) that made him return to acting. He couldn't resist the chance ol' appearing in The .Illl'tlt‘lt’ .lluli'li. based on
the true story of the ['8 team beating lingland at the l‘)5() \Vorld (‘up I’inal.
But when that Iilm I‘ailed to match his own lolly ambitions for it. disillusionment set in again and before long he'd retired for a second time. You could
say he was last becoming the celluloid equiyalent ol‘
(ieorge Best.
.\'ow. though. Bentley has definitely got his mojo back. He played the villain in (i/iusti'ii/t'r and laughs when I admit I couldn‘t sit through the whole movie: ‘That is understandable.’ he says. ‘The director is a friend ol' mine and he made it sound so much l‘un to go to Australia for Tour months and play the son of the Devil. :\t that point [just wanted to have Ian on a ttim'ie. A lot ol' times the scripts I get are very issue- orientated and complicated and that can be trying. This was just plain evil and there was no research or heayy soul-searching inyolyedf
The same could be said of P2. a horror I'ilm. in which Bentley plays a psychotic security guard. He says: ‘I l’eel like you need to go to a moxie sometimes for escapism. I understand the problems that people haye with the film and the genre. I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't just another cackling. raying mad. bad guy.~ It seems that by avoiding being so serious all the time. Bentley is linally going to start enjoying his own career.
P2 is on general release from Fri 2 May. See review, page 47.
LIST '>l<
THE BEST FILM & DVD RELEASES
* Persepolis Marjane Satrapi’s seminal graphic novel gets seamlessly transferred to the big screen. See feature. page 18 and review, page 48. Selected release from Fri 25 Apr.
* Private Property Isabella Huppert pisses off her spoilt children with spectacular results in this thought- provoking naturalistic French/Belgian familial drama. See review, page 46. Fi/mhouse, Edinburgh, Fri 2—Thu 8 May.
3|: I’m A Cyborg, But That’s OK Park Chan-wook. the visceral director of Old Boy and Lady Vengeance, goes soft and hits the asylum in this pleasing fantasy. See review, page 46 and profile, page 51. Fi/mhouse, Edinburgh, Mon 28—Thu 7 May.
* Stop-Loss Impressive ‘Iraq War at home' drama from the director of Boys Don’t Cry. See interview, page 46 and review, page 47. General release from Fri 25 Apr.
* Joy Division Exemplary documentary on the groundbreaking band. See review, page 49. Selected release from Fri 2 May.
* The Oxford Murders Spain’s greatest tribute director Alex de la Iglesia (The Day of the Beast, Perdito Durango) takes on the English country cottage murder with delightful results. See review, page 47. General release from Fri 25 Apr. * In Bruges Hitmen get existential in Bruges-set thriller. Out now on general release.
* Happy-Go-Lucky Mike Leigh strikes out with a heartwarming study of a modern day optimist. Out now on selected release.
* Les Vampires Classic French silent horror series re- emerges on DVD. Well worth checking out. Out now (Artificial Eye).
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