Posted in: Amazon Studios, TV | Tagged: House of David

House of David Star Oded Fehr on Resourceful Biblical Series, Co-Stars

Oded Fehr (Star Trek: Starfleet Academy) discussed his work on The Wonder Project and Prime Video's House of David, Jon Erwin, and more.

There hasn't been a challenge that Oded Fehr hasn't met, amassing such an impressive filmography with his nearly three-decade career since his debut in the UK series Killer Net in 1998. His breakout role was as hero Ardeth Bay, who was part of a secret order that partnered with Brendan Frasier's Rick O'Connell in Universal's The Mummy franchise from director Stephen Sommers. From there, Fehr's amassed an eclectic mix of comedies, drama, action, voice-overs, and even solidified his place in a few other franchises, including the DC Animated Universe as the voice of Dr Fate/Kent Nelson and Mr. Freeze, the original Charmed for WB, Sony's Resident Evil, NBC's Law & Order, CBS's NCIS and FBI, Marvel animated universe, and Star Trek with Discovery and the upcoming Starfleet Academy. The actor spoke to Bleeding Cool about his biblical series from Jon Erwin, House of David, currently in its second season; his role as Abner, the commander-in-chief of his cousin, Saul's (Ali Suliman) army; and working with Suliman, star Michael Iskander (David), and Aury Alby, who plays Abner's second-in-command; and the production's resourcefulness

House of David Star Oded Fehr on Crafting Abner's Biblical Journey

What does the role of Abner in House of David let you do as an actor that you haven't typically done as much in your career?

That's an interesting question. I've done this for 25 to 30 years, so there aren't many situations where I come to set and I'm surprised, but every character has its own little differences. The differences have to do with, obviously, the story, but it also has to do with the cast you get to work with and the people you get to interact with. After all, acting is reacting, and therefore, every time you get to work and interact with somebody new, it changes you as well. I work a lot with Ali Suliman on this one, and it's been an amazing experience. His performance (as Saul) of a king going mad, and then a king being driven to self-destruction by jealousy and fear, is so wonderful. So, to be able to work opposite somebody like him and work opposite somebody like Michael (Iskander), that's where this character is very different. That's where it is a new experience for me.

What do you like working with Jon Erwin as a showrunner and creative?

I have such admiration for both Jon Erwin and director/writer Jon Gunn. First and foremost, by the fact that they're the most wonderful human beings. John Erwin is like a kid in a toy store. He is always very excited about telling these stories. He's always excited about the creative process and working with everyone. At the same time, he has no ego in the sense of how he's a mover and a shaker. He treats everyone with such amazing respect and has no problem with realizing if he's made the wrong choice or somebody else has a different opinion or whatever it is.

Everybody is like that on the show, which has been such a blessing, because listen, we have done a lot with relatively very little money on the show. That brings a lot of restrictions, yet we all work together as a team, which takes a lot of openness, and a lot of putting your ego aside, and Erwin is absolutely incredible in it. There would not have been a House of David had it not been for Erwin and his sheer show of strength in pushing forward. The show is incredible because of that push, his vision, wants and wishes, but also his ability to collaborate so well, and trust in his actors, co-directors, editors, and everyone.

It's been an amazing experience. When I took on the job, I thought to myself, "All right, well, I'm going to do a biblical drama set in Greece, but never been to Greece. I hope this won't be a bad experience," and it turned out to be one of the best experiences that I've had in my career. It's just amazing, and I hope we get to do a season three together. I could say that every one of the people I worked with that I cannot wait to see them again.

When you were developing chemistry with Ali and Aury [Albi] as their characters as Saul and Joab, how did you take that energy from like season one and continuing that further in season two?

We set up the characters pretty well in season one, and the writing in season two has been so great, bringing so much more drama, issues, and conflicts for us to play with. We built it on top of what we already had, which was great chemistry and relationships between all of us as actors. I feel we have a great respect for one another, so it's been great. I'm hoping we do a great job of building up the conflict between Aury's character, Joab, and Abner. At the same time, the loyalty to Saul and that feeling of constantly, "Who's loyal? Who's not loyal?" and having to prove ourselves as characters, and so on. I hope we did a good job in season two. The writing definitely was there for that.

House of David, which also stars Stephen Lang, Ayelet Zurer, Indy Lewis, Ethan Kai, and Martyn Ford, streams Sundays on The Wonder Project via Prime Video.

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