*Veteran actor Stephen Lang, known for his commanding performances in “Avatar” and “Don’t Breathe,” takes on a new kind of role in the highly anticipated biblical series “House of David.”
As the revered prophet Samuel, Lang embodies a figure of immense spiritual authority, torn between divine duty and personal struggles. In this exclusive interview, he opens up about the challenges of portraying such a complex historical character, the emotional weight of Samuel’s journey, and what audiences can expect from this epic retelling of King David’s rise.
The Prime Video 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,” per the synopsis.
Portraying biblical figures comes with unique challenges, demanding both historical accuracy and emotional depth. When discussing his role as Samuel, we asked Lang about his preparation process and the aspects of the character that resonated with him the most.
“I think the only way to prepare to play Samuel probably is to pray,” he jokingly said. “But prayers aside, because they don’t always get answered, I think that it’s wise to go to the source material, which is a book, a very good book, in fact. And to read it and then reread it and then maybe read it again and again. And to try to absorb what you can and perhaps go to some of the commentaries of which there are many, and try to understand as much as one can about who this figure was historically,” the actor explained.
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“And then to try to understand that to every history, that at some point it begins to coalesce into legend as well. Legend becomes a matter of imagination and speculation. And to try to weave up an authentic and believable and true characterization based on all the information that you’re trying to absorb. Then in the end, when the cameras roll, I think what you do is you take a leap of faith. Do what you can and relate to the people that you are working with and see what happens. It’s not so different from working on many other roles. The kicker here, of course, is that this is the first time that I’ve played a character who had a direct speaking relationship with the Lord.”
Samuel plays a key role in anointing both Saul and David. So how does “House of David” explore Samuel’s inner conflict as he transitions from one king to another?
“That’s a very interesting question. I’m not sure, when you talk about inner conflict, he is. I would characterize his conflict as having to do with his personal feelings of responsibility, of paternity, in a sense, and affection for both Saul and David. Very, very different,” Lang explained.
“He feels very, very differently from them. One of the things that’s interesting about Samuel is that he has no doubt about what he is doing. And in this sense, he’s quite fundamentalist when it comes to this. In other respects, not so, because he has tremendous love for Saul. It’s not an easy love. It’s not an untroubled love at all. He sees Saul for who he is, the good, the bad, the majesty, and also the less noble parts of him. I would not term it as conflict. I would term it as personal emotional turmoil, perhaps, that he goes through because it’s hard to renounce someone that you feel so deeply about,” he continued.
“Strangely, it has nothing to do with the fact that he anointed him in the first place. He’s not making any apologies. I did the anointing. God told me to do it. I did the renouncing. God told me to do it. His love for David is completely different. It’s a much gentler, much more contoured, smoother,” Lane added.
“David brings a sense of joy and happiness and a levity to Samuel that I think will become apparent as things go on. I’m not saying he’s a laugh riot or anything like that. But just the presence of David brings Samuel a tremendous amount of joy, it seems to me.”
Created by Jon Erwin, “House of David” is a collaboration between Wonder Project, Amazon MGM Studios, Nomadic Pictures, Argonauts, Kingdom Story Company, and Lionsgate Television. The series features newcomer Michael Iskander (Kimberly Akimbo) as David, alongside Ali Suliman (Jack Ryan) as King Saul, Ayelet Zurer (Man of Steel) as Queen Ahinoam, Indy Lewis (Industry) as Mychal, and Martyn Ford (Mortal Kombat 2) as Goliath.
Premiering February 27 on Prime Video, “House of David” will debut with three episodes, followed by weekly releases.
Watch our exclusive conversation with Stephen Lang via the clip below.
READ MORE FROM EURWEB.COM: Michael Iskander and Martyn Ford on Bringing David and Goliath to Life in ‘House of David’ | EUR Video Exclusive
