Raquel Laguna/ SUCOPRESS. Actor Stephen Lang plays Samuel in the new TV series House of David, directed by Jon Erwin, Jon Gunn, Alexanda La Roche and Michael Nankin are the other directors. In this interview, Stephen talks about his character and about being part of such an iconic show. HOUSE OF DAVID tells the story of the ascent of the biblical figure, David, who eventually becomes the most renowned and celebrated king of Israel. The series follows the once-mighty King Saul as he falls victim to his own pride. At the direction of God, the prophet Samuel anoints an unlikely, outcast teenager as the new king. As Saul loses his power over his kingdom, David finds himself on a journey to discover and fulfill his destiny, navigating love, loss, and violence in the court of the very man he’s destined to replace. As one leader falls, another must rise. Actors Michael Iskander, Ali Suliman, Ayelet Zurer, Indy Lewis and Martyn Ford also star in HOUSE OF DAVID, coming to Prime Video on February 27th.
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00:00What attracted you to the role of Prophet Samuel in House of David?
00:06I thought it was an exciting script, and I thought the project was exciting.
00:12And, you know, I've never done a biblical epic before,
00:15and every actor has to do a biblical epic at some point, you know.
00:19It's part of the—it's on my checklist, you know.
00:24But I thought the role was fascinating.
00:28It's a very impactful role.
00:31He's really the ignition, you know, of the entire story in a way.
00:37And then—and it's an interesting thing because I'm playing a role
00:42who is as significant when he is offscreen as when he is onscreen.
00:50What does—and that means that when you are onscreen,
00:55you better be sure to have a lasting impact.
00:59You know what I mean?
01:00You need to make your presence known because the name of Samuel comes up all the time.
01:07It's never far from Saul's mind at all, you know, that Samuel—
01:12where is Samuel? What is he doing? What does he say?
01:15You know, what's going on with Samuel?
01:17You hear that all the time.
01:18So that kind of—that impels me to be very, very pronounced
01:24and powerful in the character, as powerful as I can be.
01:27At the same time, I saw right away that there was a great vulnerability to the character
01:34just because of his advanced age, just because we know that at this point in his life,
01:40even though he's participating and initiating events of historical significance,
01:47the greater part of his career and life is behind him at this point.
01:52You know, he's lived his life as a judge of Israel.
01:55He's commanded the tribes of Israel for many, many, many years.
01:59He's really on the way out and would have gone to probably a happy retirement
02:06had Saul not disobeyed, you know, the word of the Lord above.
02:13And so, you know, the Lord comes knocking again, you know, on Samuel's brain.
02:22That all attracted me to the part.
02:24And what have you learned from Samuel, from your character,
02:29and from working on a show like this?
02:32Well, I've learned that the Old Testament is every bit—
02:38certainly it's got all the blood and guts and drama that we associate with it.
02:46But as when you try to—when you bring it alive through dramatization,
02:53through a narrative written by good writers, directed by good directors,
02:57and acted with really good actors, that you can find all kinds of nuances
03:03and colors in there that you may not have been aware of.
03:07And you wouldn't be aware of just in reading the Old Testament.
03:11For example, when I'm with David, it was totally unplanned
03:16that I would have this response of absolute joy and happiness
03:24and even kind of merriment that I have with him.
03:28That's not something that one would necessarily associate with Samuel
03:33in reading the Old Testament.
03:35But in telling the story, in giving the story the kind of texture and depth
03:40and breadth and width that it needs to be entertaining
03:44and, you know, to make its way to the screen,
03:48then you have to bring that kind of thing to it, you know?
03:53You have to bring as many colors as you possibly can.
03:56So it was a wonderful learning about his own vulnerability,
04:01about his own humor, about his own vanity.
04:06He's quite vain of his hair, you know?
04:08That's something that's not in the Old Testament,
04:11but it's in the house of David, you know what I mean?
04:15That's the poetic license that we take in telling this story.
04:20But hopefully we always remain true to the source material.
04:26And what message from this show do you think will resonate most with the audience?
04:35At heart, this story is about a young boy who becomes a young man,
04:43and this boy has been set aside.
04:46He's been cast out.
04:50He is given the job to be the lonely shepherd, to be by himself.
04:56And he himself feels tremendous alienation.
05:00He feels that he is confused.
05:04He does not know when will his life begin.
05:09What is he meant to do?
05:11Well, being the father of four and the grandfather of six children,
05:17I can testify that this is not an uncommon feeling.
05:22And I wager that every young person on this planet goes through the same feelings of,
05:31why me?
05:33Why not me?
05:34Why can't I play?
05:36Why can I not be part of this?
05:39Why can I not succeed?
05:42And I think that this story, this is a story of a young man's self-actualization
05:49that happens through his own efforts, his own faith, his own aggression,
05:55his own initiative, and some help from the Lord above.
06:00Which doesn't hurt as well.
06:02But that, to me, is the fundamental message, as it were, of this,
06:09the theme, the lesson of this.