Classic remake gets the royal treatment
BEN-HUR: Chariot-riding Huston latest in line of Hollywood monarchy, including his Oscar-winning aunt Anjelica
LOS ANGELES — It’s a ballsy move to remake Ben-Hur.
Casting someone who can fill the sandals of Charlton Heston is also a tall order, but that’s where Jack Huston comes in.
Huston, 33, is an Englishman usually described as Hollywood royalty for being one of those Hustons — legendary filmmaker John Huston was his grandfather and Oscar-winning actress Anjelica Huston is his aunt.
But Huston is also a member of the British aristocracy.
His mother is Lady Margot Lavinia Cholmondeley; the actor’s other grandfather was the Sixth Marquess of Cholmondeley. His uncle David is the seventh. So Huston comes by his talent and noble bearing naturally.
The British actor, best known to North American audiences as disfigured assassin Richard Harrow in Boardwalk Empire, stars as Judah Ben-Hur in the 3D remake opening Friday. The swords-and-sandals epic is the story of two brothers — one condemned to slavery by the other — and co-stars Toby Kebbell, Morgan Freeman and Rodrigo Santoro.
But this is a different Ben-Hur, says Huston, with forgiveness at its heart instead of vengeance. It’s closer to the original novel than anything else.
Still, he loves the famed 1959 version of the movie. “It’s one of my first memories of witnessing cinema, like a real epic piece of history.”
That film, he adds, was a revenge story.
“And this one is about forgiveness and re-finding love. … It very much parlayed into real life and what we’re going through every day; all these horrific things happening all around us.
“Even though it was written 130 years ago, based 2,000 years ago, this story is really relevant. We’re still going through political and religious wars. And everyone turns on each other and there’s so much hatred and anger.”
That’s what makes the Ben-Hur message of forgiveness important, says the actor. “And I know cinema can make an impact. … In that respect, if this affects one person or three or 100, that’s important to me. That’s the kind of message we need out there in the world.”
The movie still includes the sea battle and the spectacular chariot race among other thrilling action sequences. That chariot race, says Huston, was special to be a part of.
He and Kebbell, who plays his rival and brother Messala, were determined to do the race for real.
“We really went for it on that,” he says enthusiastically. “That was tough going. It was incredible! But when else do you get a chance to race chariots?”
(“Extremely terrifying,” is how Kebbell describes the chariot experience.)
The only bits that are CGI, Huston says, “were when a horse was hurting itself or when someone was dying. Otherwise, we pushed the boundaries.”
You really can’t fake that kind of action, he adds.
“That’s me being dragged around down there, that’s me and Toby doing everything. It’s tough and it’s exhilarating, but you realize just how dangerous it is when there are 32 horses going around at full gallop, which is 40 miles an hour. And those chariots weigh a ton. … Not only do you have to worry about what you’re doing, you have to worry about what everyone else is doing, too. Because anything can happen! It’s one of those most rewarding moments because we got through it. “And no one died,” he jokes. Huston trained at the Hurtwood House drama institute. He appeared in the TV movie Spartacus in 2004 and made his feature debut the following year in Neighbourhood Watch. His films include Outlander, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, Not Fade Away, American Hustle and Hail, Caesar! Coming up, he’s one of the stars of Their Finest, a British comedy getting the gala treatment in its world premiere next month at the Toronto International Film Festival.
As for the next generation of Hustons, the actor and his partner, model Shannan Click, have two children. Huston’s little daughter visited the Ben-Hur set often.
“And my son is a Ben-Hur baby — he was made in Rome,” says Huston, who then laughs and apologizes in case that’s too much information.
“My daughter has somehow inherited the genes of loving cinema. We were at Finding Dory and she saw a poster of Ben-Hur and just ran for it: ‘Daddy, daddy!’
“And then she tripped over, went on the ground, scraped both knees — and just got up and kept running! I was like, ‘You’re awesome!’
“That was a proud moment.”