When Wes Bentley first appeared on “American Horror Story: Freak Show” in the recurring role of Edward Mordrake, he was allowed to keep his clothes on.
But now that he’s a series regular on “American Horror Story: Hotel,” Bentley is about to join the parade of naked men — Matt Bomer and Max Greenfield, among others — who’ve made this season’s stay at the Hotel Cortez one of the show’s most graphic.
“It happens to everybody on the show,” says Bentley, 37. “It’s the only way cast regulars can identify each other.”
Not that Bentley, who plays Det. John Lowe — investigator of a series of lurid murders at the hotel — has a problem with that.
“I’m not really shy in that sense,” he says. “It’s always awkward. Everyone’s looking at you. I was more concerned now that I have two small children that they’re going to see it. I feel a little bad about that. Matt’s got kids, too. There are a few of us with children. We talk about it often.”
The “AHS” set is the sort of place where extras have names like “Man Nailed to Headboard” and the “weirdest things” are overheard, Bentley says. “One time I heard someone ask, ‘Should I chew on his liver before I kill him?’”
And then there’s the blood: gallons of the fake stuff that flows from exit wounds, slit throats and severed arteries. Costume designer Lou Eyrich says the actors ride in golf carts from the set to the showers covered in the stuff. Although it all sounds rather nasty, Bentley says the inconveniences are worth it for a chance to work on “the most creative show on television in every department.”
One thing you have to say about the show: the cast, which has included Oscar winners Jessica Lange and Kathy Bates — and features Lady Gaga this season — is incredibly loyal to creator Ryan Murphy. What inspires such devotion?
“There’s one thing an actor wants: not to be pigeonholed. Ryan doesn’t see you that way,” Bentley says. “You feel like there are no limits with him. I find that a breath of fresh air and so inspiring.”
Bentley’s stint on the show also allows him to rebuild the career that started off with such fanfare when he played artistic teenager Ricky Fitts in the 1999 movie “American Beauty” but stalled thereafter as Bentley battled a serious drug addiction that cost him his first marriage to actress Jennifer Quanz.
“At 20, I was too young and too unprepared for stardom. I took myself too seriously,” he says. “You have to have a sense of humor about fame at that point. You have to understand that it’s not real and it’s not about you. People are feeling something through you. Or the character you’re playing. I didn’t know who I was.”
Sober six years now, he knows who he is: happily married to producer Jacqui Swedberg and the father of a son, Charlie, 5, and a daughter, Brooklyn, just 16 months old. Bentley speaks openly about his recovery and hopes one day he can formally help other artists with the same demons.
“Mostly I want to speak to young artists who might think they should do drugs because they’re creative,” he says. “It’s something I fell into. I already had a wild, creative mind and I thought I could accelerate that with drugs. Then I learned many of the artists I admire did not do drugs … The biggest problem is the shame. It keeps you down. But you can turn it around.”