Why did such a big actor like Charlton Heston agree to star in Planet of the Apes?
Some people have wondered why the man who played Moses and Ben-Hur would do a “silly science-fiction movie” like Planet of the Apes. In actuality, Heston saw it as a serious film with many themes that greatly intrigued him, and was very instrumental in getting the first film produced. For more information on Heston’s involvement, see the excerpts from his autobiographies, An Actor’s Life and In the Arena. • Why didn’t Charlton Heston have a very big role in Beneath the Planet of the Apes? Despite the fact that Fox had taken a huge risk in making Apes for Heston, he felt that there wouldn’t be any challenge for him as an actor in doing a sequel. However, he did realize that he was indebted to Fox, so he agreed to appear in Beneath if Taylor could be killed off early in the film (which was later changed). For more information on Heston’s involvement in Beneath, see the excerpts from his autobiographies, An Actor’s Life and In the Arena, plus the Starlog article, “Planet of the Apes Revis
