Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ culture: gender and family; slavery and freedom; ethnicity and empire; and nationhood and citizenship". With the chariot race as its central attraction and the character of Judah emerging as a "heroic action figure", "Ben-Hur" enjoyed a wide popularity among readers, similar to the dime novels of its day; however, its continued appearance on popular lists of great American literature remained a source of frustration for many literary critics over the years. The novel had millions of fans, including several influential men in politics. U.S. president and American Civil War general Ulysses S. Grant, U.S. president James Garfield, and Jefferson Davis,
Ben-Hur (2016 film) Jack Huston was later cast instead. On September 11, Morgan Freeman was added to the cast to play Sheik Ilderim, the man who teaches Ben-Hur to become a champion chariot racer. On September 18, sources confirmed that Toby Kebbell was in early talks to play the villain, Messala. On October 15, Gal Gadot was in talks to join the film as Esther, the slave with whom Ben-Hur is in love. Pedro Pascal from the TV series "Game of Thrones" was in talks to play Pontius Pilate. On October 30, TheWrap confirmed that Gadot's negotiations with Paramount and MGM had ended,