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Name and occupation: Wes Bentley, actor.
Age: 21.
Provenance: Jonesboro, Arkansas. "My lovely home state. We're not all bad."
Big break: White River Kid, starring Antonio Banderas and Bob Hoskins, and Sam Mendes's American Beauty, starring Kevin Spacey, Peter Gallagher, and Annette Bening.
A precis of Bentley's years as a struggling actor: "I was waiting in line for an open casting call for Rent, and this casting director walked by me and asked is I would read for this film. She said they'd seen so many kids, and the director didn't really like anybody. So, my first thought was 'Porno.' But I went over, and seven callbacks later, I got the part. I don't know where the movie is now."
For someone just starting out, you've played some colorful characters - an outlaw, a mental patient. Is there any one you particularly loved? "In American Beauty, I play this kid who was in a mental institution and then sells government-engineered pot to people in his town. That was my dream role. I just had to be him.
Now that you've made good, have the folks back home in Arkansas embraced your success? "It's surreal how nonchalant my family is about it, because no one else in my hometown is. People seem to find my number, and most of them are guys who used to threaten to beat me up."
--Krista Smith
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