Veteran actor Stephen Lang (“Avatar,” “Don’t Breathe”) is no stranger to playing commanding authority figures, but his latest role as the prophet Samuel in the new Prime Video series “House of David,” releasing Friday, presented a unique challenge.
The biblical story of King David’s ascension is one that holds deep significance for many, and Lang approached the part with reverence and a desire to explore the character’s humanity.
“It’s a very mysterious process,” Lang said of getting into the headspace of a prophet. “What you do is take the source material, a very well-beloved book, and you absorb it, and then perhaps you want to absorb other commentaries on it. Perhaps you want to look at art. Perhaps you want to do whatever you think is necessary, to get into, as you say, the headspace where one has a one-on-one relationship with Yahweh.”
Lang emphasized the importance of preparing mentally and emotionally, saying, “You till that field within your own heart. And then eventually it comes to point where they say you’re required on set, and you have to and you’re going to play this scene, and when you get there, then you take the leap of faith that is necessary to do it, and you do it.”
While Lang’s filmography is filled with memorable villains and antagonists such as his larger-than-life Colonel Miles Quaritch in the “Avatar” series, the role of Samuel presented a different challenge.
“I think there would have been a time in my career when I would have been, I would have wanted to be David, and there time in my career when I certainly would have wanted to be Saul, because Saul, to me, is an extremely interesting and very tragic character,” he said.
Instead, Lang found himself drawn to the complex and nuanced portrayal of Samuel, a figure revered across multiple faiths.
“You really see a very, very, a very human side, a very, very, I think, a vulnerable side and also it’s interesting that he, he is an old man. At some point in one’s career, one realizes that one has taken a step into into territory from which there may not be any return, right? That you’re playing older figures now, not even father figures. You’re playing grandfather.”
Lang’s approach to the role was informed by his lifelong fascination with the biblical story.
“It’s been created with tremendous reverence and respect for for the story, for the source material itself,” he said. “I do think that its aspirations have to do not merely with people of a firm faith, but with all people. It doesn’t matter what nationality you are. It doesn’t matter what religion you are, it doesn’t matter what sex or persuasion you are. We all love a good story.”
The universality of the story of King David’s rise to power was a key draw for Lang, who saw the role of Samuel as an opportunity to “create unity where there is sometimes none.”
“House of David,” the first project from The Wonder Project based on an idea from Jon Erwin (“I Can Only Imagine,” “Jesus Revolution”), stars Michael Iskander, Ali Suliman, Ayelet Zurer, Stephen Lang, Indy Lewis, and Martyn Ford. It releases Friday through Prime Video. Watch the interview with Stephen Lang and DeWayne Hamby below.
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