'House of David' Now Streaming on Prime, Bringing Epic Biblical Account to Life
The epic story of King David is now available on a TV screen near you, starting February 27. "House of David" takes a cinematic look at one of the Bible's most beloved characters. It's a full-scale re-telling of David's rise from an overlooked, shepherd boy to Israel's most famous king.
Actor Michael Iskander leads the cast playing the role of David. He told CBN News how he felt about taking on such a role.
"Scary. I mean, obviously an offer like this type of story, it's so special when everyone wants it, but it's scary because there's so much pressure being the one person to do this. I like to think that there's plenty of people who could have done it. I'm just a lucky one," he said.
Iskander shared with CBN News his strong desire to play the role of David and what it has taught him.
"I think it goes back to the show, The Chosen. I watch the shows. Every single time I watch an episode, I cry. I see the Bible come to life. And not only that, but I see human beings in front of me. I seen some big grand person far away. I've always been inspired by that and I've wanted to be a part of it. So, I thought to myself, man, I'd love to be in a flashback seat, maybe young King David. And that was a long time ago. That was 2021. And so to get the opportunity now to do that on full scale, deeply, the story, such a full circle movement, initial spark."
"David has taught me courage and bravery because the one thing that David always does is he doesn't run from his fears. He goes right to them. And I think that's a lesson we all need is to not run away from fears but face our failures. To stand up against the giant and to say, I'm here. Even though we might be scared, terrified, we still choose to stand against giants," he continued.
The spark behind the epic series is Jon Erwin whose film credits include "Jesus Revolution" and "I Can Only Imagine," and Jon Gunn whose work includes "The Case for Christ" and "I Still Believe." Both Gunn and Erwin described how they found the balance to tell a compelling story with Biblical accuracy.
"We feel like a great responsibility for the source material, and you want to get it right and you want to honor it. And the way to honor it is to understand the heart of it and then to fill in those gaps in ways that support the truth or the heart of it. Then you get a lot of help from people to go like, 'no, this is great, but this is actually inaccurate,'" Gunn told CBN News.
"The Bible is kind of like you're flying through a theme park in a jet. It's a historical overview and a high altitude. So, it's wonderful to... I like Ken Burns uses this phrase 'emotional archeology,' which I really like. And to first love the material, learn the material, and then really think about okay, these are real people and if they're in chapter 3, they don't know about chapter 4. Then you read all that David was going through in the Psalms and then you cross reference them to life that he was living... and it really comes to life," Erwin said.
Body builder, actor, and Mortal Combat star Martyn Ford brings the role of Goliath to life. He shared why Goliath's story was important.
"I think the power of and allowing us to tell the story with the backstory allows you to see more that you don't as a human. And if we can have that relatability to the fact that he is half human, he does have a family, he has brothers, and a mother, and there's a driving force, there's a motivation for his actions."
"House of David" is now available on Amazon Prime video.
