'American Beauty' Star Talks Drug Use And Heath Ledger's Death

Wes Bentley, best known for his role as Ricky Fitts in 1999's "American Beauty," opened up about his history of drug use and his close bond to Heath Ledger during a recent interview with Larry King.

Drugs became a problem for the Arkansas native in 2006.

"The drugs got harder and I got deeper in it, and I started considering considering things like selling [drugs] and DJing for a living instead of acting," the actor, who currently appears in the EDM-centric "We Are Your Friends," said.

"Some people have one bottom, I had 10 or 12 bottoms: a friend who passed away; I had no money; I lost contact with my family," he continued. "I finally met somebody who I loved and that kind of turned around. And then I met somebody who was sober and I wanted what he had. And then I worked really hard. I still work really hard."

The conversation turned to Ledger, who died in 2008 of a combined drug intoxication. Bentley and Ledger became close on the set of 2002's "The Four Feathers."

"He was like a brother to me," he said. "We were close friends. We worked on 'Four Feathers' together in 2000 and since then we had become very, very close. We had good times and bad times ... [his death is] the biggest loss of my life. Yeah."

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