Michael Iskander

David sings psalms and prayers in House of David (2025), and Michael Iskander brings his own musical experience to those passages. This is a sensible use of a performer who came to the screen from musical theatre: David’s life as a musician gives him something specific to do. The programme also needs him to sustain our attention when he is not singing. That proves harder, because the characterisation supplies too little personal detail to make David worth the attention he receives.

His Broadway debut came as Aaron Puckett in Kimberly Akimbo (2022), before House of David gave him his screen debut. The move puts an actor with musical theatre experience at the centre of a television drama, where song cannot carry every scene. He has described using theatrical techniques to find details in David, alongside physical preparation that includes combat training. The effort deserves acknowledgement. It also makes the shortage of distinctive behaviour in the finished character more disappointing.

We found him frustrating in House of David, because the writing leaves so little for us to discover about him. Ali Suliman has the stronger material as King Saul, and the life in Saul’s family makes David’s thin characterisation harder to ignore. The teleplay credits include Jon Erwin and N.D. Wilson; giving their leading figure more personal detail would not require abandoning the subject. We wanted a doubt or a habit that belonged to this particular young man, rather than another reason to recognise his importance.

We would be interested in seeing Iskander given more room to be awkward or unappealing. David need not become cynical or knowing; a little vanity, impatience or private uncertainty would give the actor something more to play. None of those qualities should have to contradict the musical side of the character. For now, his singing is a reason to take notice, not a reason to commit to the series.