Before HOUSE OF DAVID star Michael Iskander stepped onto the set for his first season, he made himself a worksheet to learn the crew’s jobs, not just his own.
“My job is to serve them,” he said.
That homework says plenty about how the actor approaches his growing platform. In an interview with actress and “Catholics and Cappuccinos” host Siobhan Fallon Hogan, Iskander explained that playing a biblical hero doesn’t make him the most important person on set.
Iskander credited the directors, writers, cast, camera crew, production assistants and costume department with bringing HOUSE OF DAVID to life, describing himself as only a small part of that effort.
His preparation went beyond putting names to faces. Before arriving for Season 1, he said, he wrote down the jobs on a set and learned what each person did; the sound and camera departments later became some of his closest friends.
Then he took the homework home. Iskander said he invested in a camera rig, learned to use sound equipment and taught himself editing and color grading, making short movies with friends so he could better understand a director’s perspective.
“I want to I want to be in his shoes so that I can be a better actor,” he explained.
That doesn’t mean he is announcing a move into directing. Asked whether he wanted to direct, Iskander said he loved telling stories and working on both sides of the camera, but left a future directing career open to whatever the Lord had in store for him.
Iskander already had stage experience. He made his Broadway debut in KIMBERLY AKIMBO in 2022. Prime Video announced his casting as David in June 2024, following a four-month international search.
But Hogan questioned the usual entertainment-industry shorthand for success. Recalling her own early career, she contrasted the pressure to become famous with the importance of work such as nursing or medicine.
“I hate the term ‘make it,’” she said.
For Iskander, the people who taught him what matters came long before the cameras. When Hogan asked about his parents, he credited his family’s example with shaping his faith and expressed gratitude for their influence.
“We need to push ourselves and to push each other to become better,” he said, reflecting on the growth that comes through difficult experiences.
He also described the hospitality of a Catholic family whose home left him feeling peaceful. Their kindness, he said, drew him to attend church with them — not because they pushed him, but because they welcomed him.
He carries that faith into work. Recalling filming Season 2 in Greece, Iskander said he opened his apartment windows to hear prayers and hymns from a nearby Orthodox church, read his Bible and found time to pray between scenes.
Near the interview’s close, Hogan thanked him for speaking openly about his beliefs. Iskander answered without turning it into a speech.
“I just love Jesus and I’m not going to hide it,” he said.
His account connects that public conviction with something much less glamorous: learning how everyone else does their job. For an actor playing a future king, serving the people beside him is part of the work.
Read Next: What Message Michael Iskander Says We Can Learn From King David
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