You know that scene. The one where the Red Sea is basically a wall of Jell-O and the Egyptian chariots are barreling toward a literal miracle. At the center of it all is a man who looks like he was chiseled out of granite. He’s got that signature bald head, a sneer that could melt gold, and a voice that sounds like gravel hitting a silk sheet.
That’s Yul Brynner.
People often talk about The Ten Commandments as the Charlton Heston show. Moses this, burning bush that. But honestly? The movie would be a total slog without Brynner’s Rameses II. He isn't just a villain; he’s the high-octane fuel that keeps a nearly four-hour epic from stalling out.
But there is a lot of weird, specific history behind that performance that gets lost in the shuffle of Easter Sunday re-broadcasts.
The Battle of the Biceps: Brynner vs. Heston
Here’s something kinda hilarious. When Brynner found out he was playing the Pharaoh opposite Charlton Heston, he didn't just read the script. He went to the gym.
Brynner knew he’d be shirtless or wearing basically a glorified silk skirt for half the movie. He also knew Heston was a literal giant of a man. Not wanting to be physically overshadowed by "Moses," Brynner started a brutal weightlifting regimen. He wanted to look like he could actually take Heston in a fight.
If you look closely at his other 1956 smash hit, The King and I, you’ll notice he’s surprisingly "jacked" there too. That’s the spillover from his Rameses training.
He didn't just want to act like a king. He wanted to look like a god.
The One-Day Egyptian Marathon
Most of the filming for The Ten Commandments was a massive, slow-moving beast. Cecil B. DeMille was a perfectionist. He used 15,000 animals and 14,000 extras. It was chaos.
But Brynner was a busy man.
While the production was gearing up, he was still starring in The King and I on Broadway. Because of his stage schedule, the production had to fly him out and cram almost all of his location shots in Egypt into a single, grueling day.
Think about that. One day to capture the essence of the most powerful man in the ancient world while standing in the actual desert heat. Most actors would collapse. Brynner just sharpened his posture.
Why the Voice Matters
You've probably noticed his accent is... hard to place. It’s not quite Egyptian, definitely not American, and sort of vaguely European but "other."
Brynner was born in Vladivostok, Russia. He had this wild, multi-ethnic background that he often kept mysterious, sometimes telling people he was part Mongolian or Roma. For Rameses, he leaned into that "exotic" quality.
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His delivery is clipped. It’s metallic.
"So let it be written. So let it be done."
That line works because of his cadence. It isn't a request. It’s a verbal iron curtain. DeMille actually used the film as a sort of anti-communist allegory—Rameses was meant to represent the cold, state-driven dictator, while Moses represented freedom under God. Brynner’s performance perfectly captured that rigid, unyielding authority.
The Costume That Cost a Fortune
The detail in his wardrobe was bordering on obsessive. Take his battle armor.
The brass falcons on his chest weren't just for show. They were designed by Arnold Friberg to represent the Pharaoh's personal bodyguards. The wings of the falcons crossed to protect his front and back.
It was so expensive to make that the production actually recycled parts of it. Earlier in the film, when Moses is still a Prince of Egypt and leading the army, he wears similar armor. The studio basically said, "This cost too much to only use once," so they just swapped the leather backing from red to blue and called it a day.
Brynner wore those heavy, metallic plates like they were a second skin. Most actors would look like they were playing dress-up. He looked like he owned the room.
The Height Illusion
Hollywood is basically a house of mirrors.
Charlton Heston was about 6'3". Yul Brynner was around 5'10". In a movie about two rival "brothers" competing for a throne and a woman (the eternally thirsty Nefretiri, played by Anne Baxter), that five-inch height gap could have been a problem.
DeMille used every trick in the book to fix this.
- The Platforms: Brynner often wore subtle lifts or stood on boxes during close-ups.
- The Chariots: When they are in the chariots together, the floor levels were often adjusted.
- The Posture: Brynner’s famous stance—hands on hips, elbows out—made him take up more "visual space."
He never felt smaller than Heston. In many scenes, his sheer intensity makes him feel like the biggest person on screen.
What Most People Miss About the Ending
By the end of the film, Rameses is a broken man.
There’s a specific scene after the death of the firstborn where he’s stripped of his jewelry and armor. He’s just a father sitting in the dark. It’s the only time we see the "human" under the "Pharaoh."
Brynner played that shift perfectly. He went from a man who thought his word was law to a man who realized he couldn't even keep his own son alive.
It’s easy to watch this movie and laugh at the over-the-top acting. It is theatrical. It is pitched to the rafters. But that was the style of the time. Within that style, Brynner was doing something sophisticated. He was playing a man who was a prisoner of his own ego.
How to Watch Like an Expert
If you're going to revisit The Ten Commandments, don't just wait for the Red Sea to part. Watch Brynner in the first half.
- Watch the eyes. He does a lot of work with a narrowed, cat-like gaze.
- Listen to the silence. He uses pauses better than almost anyone in the cast.
- Look at the hands. He uses props—whips, scepters, cups—as extensions of his power.
The movie is a masterpiece of mid-century "bigness," and Yul Brynner is the literal heart of that spectacle. Without his Rameses, Moses doesn't have a mountain to climb.
Next Steps for Classic Film Fans
To truly appreciate Brynner's range in 1956, watch The King and I immediately after The Ten Commandments. You’ll see how he uses the same physical "kingly" vocabulary—the stance, the voice, the bald head—to play two completely different types of leaders. One is a curious, evolving monarch; the other is a rigid, doomed dictator. It’s a masterclass in how an actor can use a specific "look" to tell two entirely different stories.
You can also look for the 4K restoration of the film. It's the only way to see the actual texture of those brass falcon plates and the intricate beadwork on the Egyptian costumes that the DVD versions completely blur out.