Early life

Bentley was born in Jonesboro, Arkansas, the third of four sons of Cherie Baker and David Bentley. His father is a minister and his mother is a chaplain and ordained elder in the Arkansas Conference, both in the United Methodist denomination. In 1996, he graduated from Sylvan Hills High School in Sherwood, Arkansas. He attended the Juilliard School's Drama Division as part of its Group 29 (1996-2000) but left the school after one year to pursue his acting career.

Career

Bentley has starred in several films, including the Oscar-winning film American Beauty, The Four Feathers, P2, and Ghost Rider. He starred in the thriller Dolan's Cadillac, based on the short story by Stephen King, and There Be Dragons by director Roland Joffé. Bentley is one of the main subjects in the documentary My Big Break, directed by Tony Zierra, which follows Bentley and three of his former roommates, Chad Lindberg, Brad Rowe and Greg Fawcett, as they pursue their dream to become successful actors in Hollywood.

In the 2007 film Ghost Rider, Bentley played Blackheart, a demonic being that was the main antagonist.

In 2010, he starred opposite Nina Arianda in the premiere of the David Ives play Venus in Fur at the Classic Stage Company in New York City.

In March 2012, Bentley had a supporting role in the blockbuster movie The Hunger Games, playing gamemaker Seneca Crane.

In 2012, Bentley also starred with Amber Tamblyn and Vincent Piazza in the indie feature 3 Nights in the Desert directed by Gabriel Cowan written by award winning playwright Adam Chanzit and produced by John Suits.

In June 2013, Bentley was selected to star in Ryan Murphy's HBO production titled Open along with Scott Speedman.

After guest starring in American Horror Story: Freak Show in 2014, Bentley was promoted to main cast for the fifth season of American Horror Story, entitled Hotel, starring as Detective John Lowe.

Personal life

Bentley was married to actress Jennifer Quanz from 2001 to 2009. They separated in 2009 due to his substance abuse. He married producer Jacqui Swedberg in 2010 and they have a son, Charles, born in late 2010. The couple also has a daughter, Brooklyn, born in 2014.

In a New York Times article on February 8, 2010, he described his descent into drug addiction that began almost immediately after his success in American Beauty. He said he hid his addiction from his wife; they separated in 2006, and he moved to an apartment where he began doing drugs full-time. During this time he worked sporadically, just enough to pay bills and buy drugs, and in 2008 was arrested and ordered into counseling and 12-step programs. He relapsed, however, and "continued using heroin until he was broke".

In July 2009, he said, he confessed to a friend, "I’m a drug addict, and an alcoholic, and I need help. I need help or I’m going to die". He again entered a 12-step program and, while clean since then, considers himself on the path to recovery.

The documentary My Big Break (2009) captures Bentley's early life as an unknown actor, his explosive career launch after American Beauty, his subsequent emotional struggle with fame, and his admission years later that he was recovering from an addiction to drugs and alcohol. He began to rebuild his career by starring in the Off-Broadway premiere of the play Venus in Fur by David Ives.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	Serendipity Lane	Lonnie	Short film
1998	Three Below Zero	Julian Flincher
1998	Beloved	Schoolteacher's Nephew
1999	American Beauty	Ricky Fitts	National Board of Review Award for Best Male Breakthrough Performance Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Male Performance Nominated—Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor
1999	White River Kid, TheThe White River Kid	White River Kid
2000	Claim, TheThe Claim	Donald Daglish
2001	Carving Out Our Name	Himself
2001	Soul Survivors	Matt
2002	Four Feathers, TheThe Four Feathers	Jack Durrance
2005	Game of Their Lives, TheThe Game of Their Lives	Walter Bahr
2007	Weirdsville	Royce
2007	Ghost Rider	Blackheart / Legion
2007	Ungodly, TheThe Ungodly	Mickey Gravatski
2007	P2	Thomas
2008	Last Word, TheThe Last Word	Evan
2008	Tomb, TheThe Tomb	Johnathan
2009	Dolan's Cadillac	Robinson
2009	Greims, TheThe Greims	Donnie Greims	Short film
2010	Jonah Hex	Adleman Lusk
2011	Rites of Passage	Benny
2011	Hirokin	Hirokin
2011	There Be Dragons	Manolo Torres
2011	After-School Special	Man	Short film
2012	Underworld: Awakening	Dr. Edward Vronski	Uncredited
2012	Gone	Peter Hood
2012	Hunger Games, TheThe Hunger Games	Seneca Crane
2012	Stars in Shorts	Man
2012	Time Being, TheThe Time Being	Daniel
2012	Hidden Moon	Victor Brighton
2013	Lovelace	Thomas
2013	Pioneer	Mike
2013	Cesar Chavez	Jerry Cohen
2014	After the Fall	Bill Scanlon
2014	The Better Angels	Mr. Crawford
2014	Things People Do	Bill Scanlon
2014	Interstellar	Doyle
2014	Welcome to Me	Gabe
2014	Final Girl	William
2015	Knight of Cups	Barry
2015	We Are Your Friends	James
2015	Broken Vows	Patrick	Post-production
2016	Pete's Dragon	Jack	Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2014-15	American Horror Story: Freak Show	Edward Mordrake	3 episodes
2015-16	American Horror Story: Hotel	Det. John Lowe	11 episodes Nominated—Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Movie/Miniseries

Stage

• Venus in Fur (2010)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]