Judah Ben-Hur Actor. Marlon Brando, Burt Lancaster and Rock Hudson turned down the role before Heston accepted it. In this version Ben-Hur becomes a Christian at the Crucifixion of Christ; whereas in the book Ben-Hur becomes a Christian earlier. Ben-Hur is given a more somewhat bitter personality; Balthazar, one of the three wise men having witnessed the birth of Christ begs him to listen to the teachings of Jesus but Judah rebuffs him saying that he has business with Rome. Blaming Rome for destroying the once good Messala (prior to his corruption) and what has happened to his family Judah refuses to
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,