For Michael Iskander, the virtual unknown who was cast as the Biblical King David following a four-month international search, there’s a parallel with his own life.
Prior to this major career breakthrough, the 23-year-old actor was fresh off his role in Broadway’s Tony Award-winning Best Musical “Kimberly Akimbo.”
Iskander had been with that show from its off-Broadway premiere. Does this mean that singing and dancing on Broadway is actually a help when it comes to an international, global career in Prime Video’s 8-episode “House of David”?
“Absolutely. It’s been tremendous to do something like this and it helps for sure,” he said in a Zoom interview, “that I have experienced singing, because it’s a major part” of who David, the shepherd boy destined to kill the mighty Goliath, is.
What does it feel like to be competing in an international search?
“A very interesting process for me. I remember it was January 27 when I got the first audition. Then I kept asking for weeks, ‘So what happened with that David thing?’
“Eventually I got a call: I’m having lunch with the executive producer and then it’ll be clear. Only next, I’m doing a screentest in New York. And then another screentest in Greece. Then more meetings and conversations — and then I got the call.”
It’s among the Bible’s most famous stories, the young boy, against all odds, slaying the towering foe to become one of the greatest kings in history. Where did he begin with his David?
“Behind every great historical figure is just a human being like everybody else. I was a teenager, like a few years ago. I’m telling the story of this young teenage boy trying to figure himself out. Trying to find his place in world. That story is one that I understand.
“Part of that is just understanding his daily task as a shepherd, not exactly a glamorous thing. He was just a kid trying to figure himself out. That appealed to me, a lot of alone time.”
For the climactic duel, Martyn Ford, the 42-year-old, 6 foot 8, 320-pound British bodybuilder, looks like the scariest man on planet Earth.
“He’s actually the sweetest man,” Iskander discovered. “It’s really weird. Goliath is so oftentimes portrayed as the super evil guy with no mental qualities. And David always just kills him.
“But there was a portrait of David I saw. David with his head down. It said so much about the heart of David.
“David has no choice but to stand up to Goliath. Because he loves his people so much. And he loves his God so much.”
Prime Video streams 3 episodes of “House of David” Feb. 27