# Ben-Hur vs. Messala: from best friends to great rivals

> How did two people who grew up like brothers become mortal enemies? Discover the friendship, power and choices at the heart of Ben-Hur.

URL: https://blog.univervideo.com/ben-hur-vs-messala-de-melhores-amigos-a-grandes-rivais?lang=en
Idioma: en
Publicado em: 2026-08-20
Autor: Univer Vídeo
Categoria: Ben-Hur

They grew up on the same streets of Jerusalem. One Jewish, the other Roman. For years, Judah Ben-Hur and Messala shared their childhood and a trust that seemed unbreakable. But what makes two people who grew up like brothers become mortal enemies? **Was it power? Pride? Or an irreversible choice?**

This is the backbone of *Ben-Hur*, the new adaptation of the classic premiering in October on **UNIVER Vídeo**. In the major production, **Vinícius Redd** plays **Judah Ben-Hur** and **Rômulo Weber** plays **Messala**, the former best friend who returns to Jerusalem wearing the uniform of the Roman Empire. Their reunion brings two once-inseparable men face to face and sets off events capable of changing both their destinies.

*Ben-Hur* has spanned generations. The story reached cinemas in 1907, 1925, 1959 and 2016 and became an international miniseries in 2010. **Now, for the first time, Ben-Hur will be told as a series**, giving the story room to explore characters, relationships and conflicts with a depth different from previous adaptations.   
![Messala frees Judah from his cell](https://blog.univervideo.com/imagens/strapi-e629c512bae1e1b5.jpg)

Rômulo Weber brings Messala to life, a Roman officer and Judah's childhood friend, whose relationship lies at the center of one of the main conflicts in *Ben-Hur*. 

**COLLISION COURSE**

**Judah** and **Messala** are two men of strong convictions who come to see the world in increasingly different ways. **Judah** tries to preserve his family, his roots and the place where he belongs. **Messala** returns shaped by the logic of Rome, an empire where authority, position and conquest could determine a man's fate. While one protects what he has, the other seeks what he still wants to achieve.

What makes this confrontation even more complex is precisely their shared past. They know each other's strengths and weaknesses and carry a closeness that does not disappear simply because they are now on different sides. After all, before the rivalry, there was something much harder to break between them: trust.

![Chariot race](https://blog.univervideo.com/imagens/strapi-36af822fac59dd0b.jpg)

Vinícius Redd plays Judah Ben-Hur, a young Jewish man from Jerusalem whose life changes after a series of events that test his family, his values and his loyalty. 

**THE MONUMENTAL SCALE OF** ***BEN-HUR***

The screenplay is by **Cristiane Cardoso**, who also wrote A Rainha da Pérsia, winner of the **PRODU award for Best Screenplay**. The general director is **Vicente Guerra**. Filming took place in **Cambará do Sul and Viamão, in Rio Grande do Sul, and Arraial do Cabo, in Rio de Janeiro**. To recreate the story's world, **the production created more than 110 settings**, including **66 sets in a backlot city and 44 in the studio**.

One of the most impressive figures, however, is linked to one of Ben-Hur's most iconic images: the chariots. For filming on the track, a wall **150 meters long and 3.6 meters high** was built. If those 150 meters were placed vertically, **they would exceed the original height of the** ***Great Pyramid of Giza***, approximately 146 meters.

The scale was not limited to the sets. Professional **American Trotter** drivers were hired as stunt doubles and to prepare the cast to drive the chariots. Training progressed to the point where **Vinícius Redd and Rômulo Weber drove their own chariots in some takes, reaching between 70 and 75 km/h**. When these sequences reach the screen, part of what audiences see will feature the actors who play Judah and Messala themselves at the reins.

![Iras invites Messala to Judah's home](https://blog.univervideo.com/imagens/strapi-b231ff2edc6f4315.jpg)

Ingrid Conte plays Iras, a young Egyptian woman with a striking personality who arrives to shake up the plot of Ben-Hur. 

**THEY TOO ENTER THIS WAR**

Around the protagonists, other characters enter this game of relationships and choices. **Bia Arantes plays Ester**, a character connected to **Judah's** journey, while **Ingrid Conte plays Iras**, a mysterious Egyptian who knows how to use intelligence and charm to get what she wants. In a story marked by alliances, interests and loyalties, the two occupy important positions in Judah and Messala's paths, but how far that influence will reach remains something the series keeps under wraps.

**THE EPIC THAT INFLUENCED A GENERATION**

The impact of *Ben-Hur* did not end in 1959. Decades later, the classic was still influencing major productions. While preparing Gladiador, released in 2000, Ridley Scott and designer Arthur Max turned to *Ben-Hur* as a visual reference.

According to *Turner Classic Movies (TCM)*, Max described the 1959 film as a *“master course”* in production design, reinforcing its place among cinema's great epics.

Now, *Ben-Hur* returns to the screen in a new format and on a new scale, without losing what carried its story across generations: friendship, loyalty and choices capable of changing destinies. And one question remains at the heart of this story: **what could turn two great friends into enemies?**

*In October, on UNIVER Vídeo.*