The mother of Kal-El is in talks to play the mother of Ben-Hur<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Gal Gadot may have had to quit the movie for scheduling reasons, but another Israeli actress with experience in the DC Comics movie universe is stepping in -- albeit for a different role.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2014\/11\/the-mother-of-kal-el-is-in-talks-to-play-the-mother-of-ben-hur.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The mother of Kal-El is in talks to play the mother of Ben-Hur\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Gal Gadot may have had to quit the movie for scheduling reasons, but another Israeli actress with experience in the DC Comics movie universe is stepping in -- albeit for a different role.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2014\/11\/the-mother-of-kal-el-is-in-talks-to-play-the-mother-of-ben-hur.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"FilmChat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-11-12T02:59:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-11-14T06:46:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/files\/2014\/11\/ayeletzurer-200x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Peter T. Chattaway\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Peter T. Chattaway\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2014\/11\/the-mother-of-kal-el-is-in-talks-to-play-the-mother-of-ben-hur.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2014\/11\/the-mother-of-kal-el-is-in-talks-to-play-the-mother-of-ben-hur.html\",\"name\":\"The mother of Kal-El is in talks to play the mother of Ben-Hur\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-11-12T02:59:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-11-14T06:46:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/5759ddf28b81af08b29eb15b4e071fde\"},\"description\":\"Gal Gadot may have had to quit the movie for scheduling reasons, but another Israeli actress with experience in the DC Comics movie universe is stepping in -- albeit for a different role.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2014\/11\/the-mother-of-kal-el-is-in-talks-to-play-the-mother-of-ben-hur.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2014\/11\/the-mother-of-kal-el-is-in-talks-to-play-the-mother-of-ben-hur.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2014\/11\/the-mother-of-kal-el-is-in-talks-to-play-the-mother-of-ben-hur.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The mother of Kal-El is in talks to play the mother of Ben-Hur\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/\",\"name\":\"FilmChat\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/5759ddf28b81af08b29eb15b4e071fde\",\"name\":\"Peter T. Chattaway\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9c4b809df092b410d749a6995bcf4f3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9c4b809df092b410d749a6995bcf4f3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Peter T. Chattaway\"},\"description\":\"Peter T. Chattaway was the regular film critic for BC Christian News from 1992 to 2011. In addition to his award-winning film column for that paper, his news and opinion pieces have appeared in such publications as Books & Culture, Christianity Today, Bible Review and the Vancouver Sun. He has also contributed essays to the books Re-Viewing The Passion: Mel Gibson\u2019s Film and Its Critics (Palgrave Macmillan, 2004), Scandalizing Jesus?: Kazantzakis\u2019s The Last Temptation of Christ Fifty Years on (Continuum, 2005) and The Bible in Motion: A Handbook of the Bible and Its Reception in Film (De Gruyter, 2016).\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/author\/peterchattaway\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The mother of Kal-El is in talks to play the mother of Ben-Hur","description":"Gal Gadot may have had to quit the movie for scheduling reasons, but another Israeli actress with experience in the DC Comics movie universe is stepping in -- albeit for a different role.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2014\/11\/the-mother-of-kal-el-is-in-talks-to-play-the-mother-of-ben-hur.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The mother of Kal-El is in talks to play the mother of Ben-Hur","og_description":"Gal Gadot may have had to quit the movie for scheduling reasons, but another Israeli actress with experience in the DC Comics movie universe is stepping in -- albeit for a different role.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2014\/11\/the-mother-of-kal-el-is-in-talks-to-play-the-mother-of-ben-hur.html","og_site_name":"FilmChat","article_published_time":"2014-11-12T02:59:55+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-11-14T06:46:54+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/files\/2014\/11\/ayeletzurer-200x300.jpg"}],"author":"Peter T. Chattaway","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Peter T. Chattaway","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2014\/11\/the-mother-of-kal-el-is-in-talks-to-play-the-mother-of-ben-hur.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2014\/11\/the-mother-of-kal-el-is-in-talks-to-play-the-mother-of-ben-hur.html","name":"The mother of Kal-El is in talks to play the mother of Ben-Hur","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-11-12T02:59:55+00:00","dateModified":"2014-11-14T06:46:54+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/5759ddf28b81af08b29eb15b4e071fde"},"description":"Gal Gadot may have had to quit the movie for scheduling reasons, but another Israeli actress with experience in the DC Comics movie universe is stepping in -- albeit for a different role.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2014\/11\/the-mother-of-kal-el-is-in-talks-to-play-the-mother-of-ben-hur.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2014\/11\/the-mother-of-kal-el-is-in-talks-to-play-the-mother-of-ben-hur.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2014\/11\/the-mother-of-kal-el-is-in-talks-to-play-the-mother-of-ben-hur.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The mother of Kal-El is in talks to play the mother of Ben-Hur"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/","name":"FilmChat","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/5759ddf28b81af08b29eb15b4e071fde","name":"Peter T. Chattaway","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9c4b809df092b410d749a6995bcf4f3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9c4b809df092b410d749a6995bcf4f3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Peter T. Chattaway"},"description":"Peter T. Chattaway was the regular film critic for BC Christian News from 1992 to 2011. In addition to his award-winning film column for that paper, his news and opinion pieces have appeared in such publications as Books & Culture, Christianity Today, Bible Review and the Vancouver Sun. He has also contributed essays to the books Re-Viewing The Passion: Mel Gibson\u2019s Film and Its Critics (Palgrave Macmillan, 2004), Scandalizing Jesus?: Kazantzakis\u2019s The Last Temptation of Christ Fifty Years on (Continuum, 2005) and The Bible in Motion: A Handbook of the Bible and Its Reception in Film (De Gruyter, 2016).","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/author\/peterchattaway"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1116"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24118"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24118\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":24118,"date":"2014-11-11T18:59:55","date_gmt":"2014-11-12T02:59:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/?p=24118"},"modified":"2014-11-13T22:46:54","modified_gmt":"2014-11-14T06:46:54","slug":"the-mother-of-kal-el-is-in-talks-to-play-the-mother-of-ben-hur","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2014\/11\/the-mother-of-kal-el-is-in-talks-to-play-the-mother-of-ben-hur.html","title":{"rendered":"The mother of Kal-El is in talks to play the mother of Ben-Hur"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"ayeletzurer\"$ <\/a>Gal Gadot may be out<\/a> as the love interest in Ben-Hur<\/a><\/i>, due to the fact that she\u2019s too busy playing Wonder Woman, but another Israeli actress with experience in the DC Comics movie universe is stepping in \u2014 to play Judah Ben-Hur\u2019s mother, rather than his lover.<\/p>\n

The Hollywood Reporter<\/a><\/i> says Ayelet Zurer, who played Superman\u2019s mother in Man of Steel<\/a><\/i>, is in talks to play Naomi, one of two women in Ben-Hur\u2019s family (the other is his sister Tirzah) who, in the original story at least, are sent to prison and become lepers there after Ben-Hur is betrayed by his former friend Messala.<\/p>\n

Zurer\u2019s other high-profile English-language films include Munich<\/a><\/i> and Angels & Demons<\/a><\/i>.<\/p>\n

Ben-Hur\u2019s mother doesn\u2019t have a name in the original novel<\/a>. In the 1959 film<\/a> starring Charlton Heston she was called Miriam and played by the distinctly non-Israeli Martha Scott. (Fun fact: Ben-Hur<\/i> marked the second time that Scott played Heston\u2019s mother onscreen, following the 1956 version of The Ten Commandments<\/a><\/i>.)<\/p>\n

November 12 update:<\/b> A reader alerts me to the fact that Zurer, born in June 1969, is only 13 years older than Jack Huston, the actor who would play her son; he was born in December 1982. But this is actually a larger<\/i> age gap than the 11 years between Martha Scott, who was born in September 1912, and Charlton Heston, who was born in October 1923. So, the new film is slightly more realistic, in that regard!<\/p>\n

November 13 update:<\/b> I just remembered, the mother was named Ruth in the 2010 miniseries<\/a> \u2014 and she was played by Doctor Who<\/i> co-star Alex Kingston, who is 18 years older than Joseph Morgan, the actor who played Judah Ben-Hur.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"