Watch: A featurette on Morgan Freeman’s Ilderim in Ben-Hur

One of the promotional hurdles faced by the new Ben-Hur is its relative lack of star power. Nearly everyone in its cast is best known for working on television or for minor roles in other films. The main exception is Morgan Freeman, who plays Ilderim, the sheikh who sponsors Judah Ben-Hur in the film’s climactic chariot race.

A new featurette takes a closer look at Freeman and his character; among other things, screenwriter John Ridley says making Ilderim “a principal within the storytelling” was in and of itself a sufficient “reason to go back and recreate this story”. Here is the featurette, which also has soundbites from Jack Huston, who plays Judah:

Check out earlier trailers and other videos here:

• The first domestic and international trailers, the ‘Welcome to ShareBenHur.com’ video, and the Entertainment Tonight promo (March 16, 2016)
• The ‘Epic Faith’ trailer (March 23, 2016)
• The ‘Rodrigo Santoro as Jesus’ featurette (March 25, 2016)
• The second faith-based trailer (June 8, 2016)
• The Entertainment Tonight reports (June 11, 2016)
• The ‘Chariot Race’ featurette and Entertainment Tonight report (June 13, 2016)
• The ‘Epic’ featurette (July 6, 2016)
• The ‘Ceasefire’ music video (July 13, 2016)
• The ‘Revolution’, ‘Spark’, ‘Legend’ and ‘Combo’ TV spots (July 18, 2016)
• The ‘Back to You’ music video (July 21, 2016)
• The second domestic and international trailer (July 25, 2016)
• The ‘Jesus the Carpenter’, ‘Jesus Helps Judah’, ‘Jesus Protects the Leper’, ‘Judah and Esther’ and ‘Jesus’ Crucifixion’ clips (July 26, 2016)
• The ‘Ceasefire’ worship video, the Jack Huston interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live, and the ‘Defy an Empire’ TV spot (August 1, 2016)
• The ‘The Only Way Out’ music video, the ‘Andra Day BTS’ featurette, and the ‘Rise’, ‘Greatest’ and ‘Revolution’ TV spots (August 2, 2016)
• The ‘You Should Have Killed Me’ clip (August 4, 2016)
• The AOL Build, WSVN News and Movieguide interviews, the Morgan Freeman interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live, and the living poster (August 8, 2016)
• The ‘Chariot Race’ clip (August 8, 2016)