Singing and slinging: House of David’s protagonist

By Abdul Masih —

House of David Season 2 is here, and with it the question of how did the creators cast David. They needed a beast warrior akin to Samson, but they also needed a singer boy. Not too many people on the planet could fit the role, and creators spent a long four months casting Michael Iskander.

Iskander had just worked on Broadway musical, so more singer than warrior. But the Egyptian Copt who grew up in America was easy to work with and had a genuine faith in God that would show forth in the scenes of Season 1, eclipsed internet sensation The Chosen with drama, riveting plot and special effects.

“My faith always comes first. That’s No. 1,” Iskander says. “And so, I guess I look at everything through that lens. I don’t see why there should be a separation between art and faith. I’m very lucky with David. I get to worship when I go to work — that’s a blessing. I hope more people are inspired by faith in their art.”

He burst on to the series like the upstart kid that he is taking on the 9-foot-fall Goliath with a stone and a slingshot.

So he learned to sing through years of practice? How did he learn to sling?

That came from Rene Charest, executive pastor at Valley Christian Center in Fresno, CA, who also fools around with Medieval weapons and battles on his YouTube channel under the handle Dash Rendar from the 1996 Shadows the Empire from the Star Wars franchise. This must be the coolest and buffest pastor ever.

Charest trained Iskander in Greece to execute the front back loop and jumping swivel throw that gets used in the last episode of Season 1, reprised in the first episode of Season 2. Heck, the chapter in the Bible is a favorite, so of course the stylized war Israelites against Philistines is going to exploit every drop of emotion out of it too.

Ali Suliman‘s performance as King Saul shows dramatically the contradictions in the Israelite king who initially was so shy and humble that he tried to skip his own coronation, only to become a megalomaniac who is tormented by a spirit of jealousy. Talk about authentic, Suliman is Israeli Palestinian by birth. He might be descended from the Philistines.

His wife, portrayed by Ayalet Zurer, gives a compelling performance of the Lady MacBeth figure who connives and schemes to calm her husband’s demons while keeping power in her lineage.

Ayalet commented in Season 1 that when David sang to calm the Saul’s demons, people were moved to real tears, not acted tears, by the performance. Something like the Holy Spirit actually fell on the actors in the room.

Stephen Lang plays the Prophet Samuel, who with his long grey beard and robes and mystic ways strikes similarity with Gandalf the Gray from Lord of the Rings. He’s a bad-butt and fights off Philistines himself after praying Moses-like from a mountaintop for the Israelite victory. Some of the most heart-warming scenes from Season 1 came from Lang, like when he anoints David to succeed Saul and laughs that God’s choice is a mere shepherd’s boy: “God is funny.”

House of David fills in all sorts of details to the Biblical narrative with backstories and side stories and drama and intrigue galore. Don’t complain if you want the movie creators to stick strictly to the Bible. They give Doeg a much larger role than in Scriptures. They venture off into wild theological speculation, tracing the Giants back to the supposed fall of angels from Heaven and procreating with human women. It’s enthralling movie material, but take it all with a grain of salt.

House of David should pique the interest of viewers and get them to read the Word of God, but it is not substitute for the Word of God.

While Season 1 was free on Amazon Prime, Season 2 comes with a $8.99 monthly fee through the Wonder Project. They have to pay for all those special effects and grueling battle scenes somehow. I can’t wait to watch the rest of the episodes — they liven up the Bible and give fresh enjoyment to the greatest stories of all time.