The “angry” feud between Sophia Loren and Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren, two of the biggest names when it comes to classic Hollywood, are the true legends of acting. Heston’s achievements in the movie industry spread far, and he is also noted as one of the first actors to actively speak out against racial prejudice amid the origins of the civil rights movement.
Loren, meanwhile, had started her film career in her native Italy before her initial success soon had Hollywood calling, and she quickly became one of its biggest stars. After performances in some of the most beloved classic movies of the era, Loren had established herself as a figure of sexual emancipation, and she’s enjoyed a career littered with success and distinction.
The two cinema icons came to work together on the 1961 epic historical drama El Cid, directed by Anthony Mann, which is loosely based on the life of Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, an 11th-century Castillian warlord. Heston starred in the lead role, while Loren played his wife, Dona Jimena.
The film was well-received by critics and audiences across the world and was nominated for three Academy Awards. However, there was a serious rift on the set of Mann’s movie, and it was largely to do with the way Heston perceived Loren and her opinions on how the film ought to be made.
Heston was brought in as the first choice for the role of El Cid, so he felt that he had some power over the production. But Loren was a strong-willed actor who demanded a big paycheck and that more romantic scenes be written into the script. Heston was not impressed by either of these facts.
The actor believed he was the big star of the movie, but with Loren on board, he was suddenly being overshadowed, especially when she negotiated $200 per week for her personal hairdresser and asked for the script to be translated into Italian from English, which she was, of course, more comfortable with.
Eventually, it is alleged that Heston grew so annoyed that he asked for a body double to take his position any time there was a shot with only Loren in. He also reportedly stopped looking at his co-star entirely at one point. According to the Heston biographer Marc Eliot in his book Hollywood’s Last Icon, Loren got the actor “really angry”.
He particularly hated having to perform love scenes with Loren, which made him “most uncomfortable”, even in the movie’s climactic deathbed scene, where Heston could barely look at his wife. He later claimed he was “looking into the future” rather than into the eyes of his lover.
Check out the trailer for El Cid below to spot the feud between Loren and Heston.
