CNA Staff, Oct 31, 2025 / 08:00 am
Michael Iskander, the actor who portrays King David in the hit Prime Video series “House of David,” announced earlier this year that he had converted to Catholicism. Born and raised as a Coptic Orthodox, he does not see his conversion as a rejection of his roots; instead, it is “answering a calling from God.”
The 24-year-old actor, who was born in Egypt but came to the United States as a child, sat down with CNA for an exclusive interview in October and spoke candidly about his recent conversion and faith.
Iskander’s journey toward Catholicism started several years ago when he happened to stumble into St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan. Although tourists filled the historic cathedral, Iskander went in, sat down in a pew, put his head down, and felt “as if nothing existed.”
“I looked at the altar knowing that’s where the Eucharist lies and I’m like, ‘I want the Eucharist.’ And I remember feeling this moment of extreme holiness,” he recalled. “I was like, ‘This is where the Eucharist is.’ And I put my head down and I started weeping for an hour straight — not praying, nothing, just weeping. And it felt like nobody else was there except for me and God.”
He credited that day with planting the seed of his interest in Catholicism. From then on, he began attending Mass. As he learned more about King David in preparation for the show, that interest, which became a calling, kept growing.
“I was like, ‘This is home, God is calling me here,’ and it just kept getting louder and louder and louder,” he said.
After he finished filming Season 2 of “House of David,” Iskander got in contact with a priest in his area to go over questions he had about Catholicism. After a nearly two-hour conversation, he told the priest he wanted to convert.
Because the Catholic Church recognizes sacraments from the Coptic Orthodox church as valid, Iskander took part in a profession of faith during a Mass for him held on Aug. 21.
One part of the Mass in particular stood out to Iskander: when the priest read the responsorial psalm, which was Psalm 89 and included the verses that talk about the anointing of David.
“He’s reading this and I’m thinking, ‘Father, thanks for setting that up. That’s very sweet. Thanks.’ And so he goes up for the homily and he goes, ‘So just in case you’re wondering, Michael, if I chose that for you, no. You happen to pick the day where this is the reading … so I think God is trying to speak to you and telling you that you are home,’” he recalled.
Iskander added: “It was just a beautiful day and I felt like I was home … It felt like the prodigal son who returned and his father accepted him with open arms.”
The Catholic actor said playing the role of King David has impacted his faith “in every way,” sharing that reading Scripture affects how he portrays the Jewish king.
“I inform everything about David from Scripture and looking at not only his great moments but his tough moments,” he said.
“The more you keep reading about him, the more the more we understand David; the more we ponder about the actions that he took, the more we understand his heart. He truly was a man who loved God with every part of his being,” Iskander added. “And just like all of us, we fall and we falter, but David is one who came back and recognized his mistakes and recognized his sins in front of God and asked for forgiveness and repented.”
The actor explained that one of the biggest ways his faith has been impacted is in learning why God chose David yet rejected Saul, reflecting on the humble heart of David and the prideful heart of Saul.
“God chose David because of his humble heart. And a humble heart is a heart that’s willing to follow God. It’s a heart that’s willing to listen to him and do as he commands,” he said. “A prideful heart is going to choose my wants, my needs, my selfish desires over him. A selfish heart is going to place yourself even with God, which is what happened with Saul, [and is] ultimately why he was rejected.”
Iskander added: “Once that clicked, I was like, ‘Oh, it’s not about me. It’s about him. I need to follow him and I need to listen to his commandments and I need to put myself aside. I need to not think about myself.’ And really it’s freeing. It’s a freeing thing to just put yourself aside and live for Christ.”
“I think that’s the most beautiful thing, to put ourselves aside and to live for him. So, thinking about that and understanding that in my life, I just need to follow God and follow his commandments and follow what he wants for me,” he said.
Season 2 of “House of David” is streaming now on Prime Video with a Wonder Project subscription.
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