(LifeSiteNews) — The actor who portrayed King David in the popular new series “House of David” announced Thursday that he has converted to Catholicism.
“Today is a very special day, that looking back has been a long time in the making. Today I joined the Catholic faith,” Michael Iskander wrote in an Instagram post alongside the picture of a Catholic church sanctuary.
“I’ve felt a calling to this church for a long time, and as time went on, this calling became louder and louder. Eventually I ran into some really amazing people that helped me along the way,” the actor shared.
Iskander, who was born in Egypt and raised a Coptic Orthodox Christian, shared in an interview with Naomi Raine that his dream of playing King David began to form after he watched the series The Chosen about the life of Jesus Christ. He told how his family asked him who he would want to play in The Chosen series if he had the opportunity and he replied, “Maybe King David.”
“Ever since then, the name David has been on my heart,” continued Iskander, adding that he never expected the dream would come to fruition.
According to Catholic News Agency (CNA), when he first auditioned for the role for the House of David series, he was turned down.
Two weeks later, he was asked to re-audition, and his mother told him to fast and pray beforehand. Iskander was chosen for the role two months later.
“For me, oftentimes God speaks with the softest voice and, for me, the softest voice was telling me ‘just hold out’ … I don’t want to say that I knew this was mine — I really believe that God can choose anyone to accomplish his will,” Iskander said in the interview with Raine. “It’s not about me, it’s about him doing his will and it’s about someone who was willing to do his will.”
“So, I think in a way having that audition not go through … I think it was God’s way of telling me: ‘Listen, there’s going to be rejection and there’s going to be a tough time and there’s going to be challenges, but the only way you get through is with me,’” he said, adding that Scripture speaks of the power of fasting and prayer.
Asked how he went about playing the role of King David, Iskander said the first key was to realize the story he portrayed was “not about David” but about God.
As the actor explained at the Library University Convocation, “David’s heart was for the Lord and so that’s what I try to find in every scene, in every moment is where the Lord is and where the Holy Spirit can be found.”
“It’s very easy for actors to fall into the trap when playing a role like this to make it about David, to make it about the human being rather than about God,” Iskander said.
He has also spoken about the key role Scripture played in preparation for the role. “ … I found myself reading the Psalms and the Book of Samuel constantly just to be reminded of the true character of David and his heart and truly trying to find his heart in every single moment,” he told CNA in an interview.
House of David, produced by the independent studio Wonder Project and available for viewing on Prime Video, premiered February 27 and hit 22 million views within 17 days, reaching the number one spot for Prime Video.
Season two of the show will first be released to Wonder Project subscribers this fall and made available to all Prime Video users at a later date.
