In a newly released photo, Christian Bale sports a dark beard and tough exterior as Moses in Ridley Scott’s Exodus: Gods and Kings.
“Charlton Heston does Charlton Heston better than anyone,” Bale said. “But the biblical account of Moses is extraordinary, and there was lots of room for us to go to places that [Heston’s movie] The Ten Commandments never dreamed of going.”
The film also includes Joel Edgerton, Sigourney Weaver, Ben Kingsley, John Turturro and Aaron Paul.
“When you’re Ridley, you pick up the phone and people will turn up,” Edgerton told Entertainment Weekly. “I had to battle demons of self-doubt to feel like I belonged in this club.”
Moses was a prophet who stood up to Pharaoh Ramses and helped free more than 600,000 slaves. He then led those people through the desert away from Egypt.
“What I thought I knew about Moses I didn’t really,” Scott said. “Either I wasn’t paying attention in Sunday school or I had forgotten. I was knocked out by who he was and the basics of the story—it has to be one of the greatest adventures and spiritual experiences that could ever have been.”
Exodus: Gods and Kings is in theaters Dec. 12.
Publication date: July 2, 2014
