The ‘Nice Guy’ Side of Wes Bentley | Exclusive Interview #PetesDragonEvent

After following his career peppered with roles as a dark and brooding lead actor, it was a surprise to find Wes Bentley center-stage in a light-hearted Disney film.  This interesting twist certainly paid off professional as Bentley brought a wonderful level of warmth and sincerity to his role, and personally as he was able to bring his six-year-old son to the green carpet world premiere of PETE’S DRAGON at the El Capitan Theater last week

“I’ve been a Disney fan when I was a kid and I was excited to be a part of a movie with them especially because I have young kids.” said Bentley. “I wanted to do something that my kids could see while they’re young.”

Acting in a Disney film also gave Bentley a chance to have a lot of fun on set.  He particularly enjoyed filming a scene where he Bryce Dallas Howard (who plays Grace in the film) had to sit on the back of a fake dragon for an entire day.  They continuously told each other jokes to evoke laughter and big smiles while they were pretending to fly on (what would later become) Elliot, Pete’s Dragon friend.

Another moment Bentley enjoyed was a chase scene in the film, where the cast is attempting to catch Elliot after he escapes confinement.

“It felt a bit like ‘It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World’ where everyone’s sort of looking for the money,” said Bentley. “We just had everyone together and we’re all standing together and we had to all run to our cars as fast as we could and take off after this truck.  And it was just kind of crazy and wild and funny and, and everyone was giddy from all the action and making jokes and laughing.”

Filming in New Zealand was a another highlight for Bentley.  His family joined him on set and he enjoyed touring the beautiful area, where he felt there was always something exciting to do.

“[New Zealand] is the gem of the world,” said Bentley. “It’s, it’s so far away from the madness and so you get that element and it was just stunning.”

In researching his role to play the owner of a lumber mill in New Zealand, Bentley learned as much as he could about the types of lumber and the environmental impact lumbering has on the area.  He wanted to understand his character well, a man who is balancing having to earn a living and having others in his town dependent upon the company and still remaining environmentally aware.

After working with local New Zealand tree farms, learning about the process and gaining a first-hand perspective of the results of tree removal for lumber, Bentley had mixed reactions and hopes that the audience takes a little bit of the environmental aspect from the film.

“It kind of hits you to the core because it’s the world,” said Bentley. “The earth’s part of us, we’re part of the earth.  You can sense it there and there are definitely better ways to do it now where the trees can grow back quicker… What I learned is that it’s a hard balance in the end and it’s not just a simple ‘we shouldn’t do it’ kind-of-thing.  It’s just ‘can we do it responsibly?'”

This sense of responsibility shines through in Bentley’s performance in PETE’S DRAGON as he brings a brilliant performance to the screen.  It’s nice to see him on the lighter side and hopefully, this is just the beginning of more opportunities to see the multi-faceted sides of Bentley’s acting abilities!