My Favorite Story About Charlton Heston

During the making of Ben Hur, the actor Stephen Boyd had some problems understanding his character Massala's motivation. The Roman Massala had once been the childhood friend of the Jewish Judah Ben Hur, but wound up being his sworn enemy. Director William Wyler suggested that Massala and Judah had been homosexual lovers as boys and that Massala wished to renew the relationship when he returned to Jerusalem as an adult. According to Wyler, Massala turned against Judah when his amorous advances were rebuffed.

Wyler never told Charlton Heston about this because Heston was so straight-laced, but if you watch the initial scenes between Heston and Boyd, you can see the lust in Boyd's eyes.

Charlton Heston (1924-2008)