Jack Huston stars as the Jewish prince Judah Ben-Hur in the modern remake of "Ben-Hur," which is based on Lew Wallace's same-titled classical novel.
Huston says he learns something new about the film every time he watches it, but there is one particular scene that always tugs on his heartstrings — the final moment when Ben-Hur learns to forgive his betrayer, Messala (Toby Kebbell).
"That was very emotional actually. The actual act is very effective, the crucifixion that is followed by forgiveness, everyone was affected up there on that mountain," Huston tells The Christian Post.
"Forgiveness is not thinking that you have to be in control of everything [but more] so being able to let things go," the actor says. "To forgive someone means you have to be in control of them in a sense, so I think understanding other people and it not being all about you [helps]."
Huston's character has every reason to exact revenge on Messala because of what happened to his family. But after experiencing the love and kindness of Jesus Christ, the hardened heart of Ben-Hur changed for the better.
"I think forgiveness, there's something peaceful about [it] and revenge is driven by hatred and war. I think there always has to be a bigger person to say if we keep on retaliating and looking for revenge then there's no end," Huston explains.
A lot of people are looking forward to seeing the epic chariot races. In the original "Ben-Hur" movie in 1925 and the 1959 version, stunt riders reportedly lost their lives during the filming of the scenes. Huston says it's fortunate no one got hurt in their remake, but they still faced a lot of challenges in shooting those scenes.
"Getting through this film was a hurdle. I mean surviving the chariot race was a hurdle. It was brutal to be doing this. There's a lot of times where you question everything and what you can do, but it was perseverance, a lot of hard work, amazing support and his journey is such an amazing one, that you can't help not be affected by it," Huston shares.
"Ben-Hur" is scheduled to be released on Aug. 19, 2016 in the United States in 2D, 3D, RealD 3D, Digital 3D and IMAX 3D.
