How many House of David actors have been in OTHER Bible movies?
The list isn't long, but it does include Ayelet Zurer, Stewart Scudamore, Ashraf Barhom, Martyn Ford, and Mohammad Bakri, among others.
Note: This post includes spoilers from House of David Season 2, which released its final episode in the US yesterday and is not yet available in other countries.
One of the fun things about following the Bible-movie genre is watching actors from one version of a story pop up in new versions of the same story, often as a mentor to their previous character or, alternatively, as an antagonist to that character.
Victor Mature played Samson in 1949’s Samson and Delilah, and then played Samson’s father Manoah in 1984’s Samson and Delilah. Ben Kingsley played Moses in 1995’s The Bible Collection: Moses, and then played Joshua’s father Nun in 2014’s Exodus: Gods and Kings. Nathaniel Parker played David in 1997’s The Bible Collection: David, and then played the Philistine king Achish in 2016’s Of Kings and Prophets.
And now, it looks like every season of House of David will feature at least one actor from Of Kings and Prophets:
Martyn Ford—who played a bald, clean-shaven Goliath in the original unaired pilot for OK&P—played a hairy, bearded Goliath in Season 1 of HoD.
And Mohammad Bakri—who played the prophet Samuel in OK&P—appeared in two episodes of Season 2 of HoD as the pagan King of Edom, a character we’ll apparently be seeing a lot more of in Season 3.
Seeing these actors got me wondering… how many other Bible-movie veterans are in the House of David cast? I definitely recognized Stewart Scudamore, who plays the scheming tribal leader Adriel; he’s been in no fewer than seven other Bible films and TV shows. But what about some of the less-obvious actors and characters?
So, I made a list, checked the IMDb, and rounded up some screencaps.
A few quick points, before we get to the gallery:
I’ve made a few of these galleries before, looking at actors who’ve appeared in both the Bible-movie genre and in big franchises like Star Wars, Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, and Downton Abbey. But this is the first time I’ve looked at actors from one Bible film or series who’ve appeared in other Bible films or series.
As before, I limited my search to the credited actors, and I did not investigate any of the actors who were listed at the IMDb as “uncredited”.
The “Bible films” featured here are films and TV shows that adapt biblical narratives. This includes fictitious stories that take place in the ancient world and have some sort of connection to the biblical narrative, like Ben-Hur, as well as films and shows that put biblical stories in quasi-modern settings, like Testament.
Films about people who make Bible-related archaeological discoveries (e.g. The Body), films about rumoured second comings (e.g. Netflix’s Messiah), and films based on secular history that depict people who happen to be mentioned in the Bible (e.g. Those About to Die) all go in the ‘Honourable Mentions’ list.
The actors are listed according to which season they first appeared in. As of this writing, there is only one actor who made his first appearance in Season 2.
The House of David actor with the most Bible-movie experience, by far, is the aforementioned Stewart Scudamore, who has seven other Bible movies or series under his belt. The aforementioned Mohammad Bakri has three.
The Bible movies and/or series with the most House of David actors (aside from House of David itself, natch) are the Arabic Jesus movie The Savior (2014) and the aforementioned Of Kings and Prophets, which have two apiece.1
If you count the Old Stories: Moses spin-off, then the Bible movies and/or series with the most actors from the House of David universe are Full of Grace (2015) and The Chosen (2019-present), which have three apiece.
The oldest Bible movie or series represented here is Amos Gitai’s Esther (1986); the most recent (aside from House of David) is Testament (2025).2
I couldn’t identify a few of the more obscure actors and/or characters from House of David, so I may update this gallery later. I will also update it as future seasons of the series come out. As ever, feel free to correct me if I misidentified anyone.
And now, to the gallery itself!
The series
Season 1 (2025)
Ali Suliman (King Saul) is reportedly playing Cleopas in The Way of the Wind, which has been in post-production since 2019.
Ayelet Zurer (Queen Ahinoam) played The Mother in Last Days in the Desert (2015) and Naomi in Ben-Hur (2016); she also played Vittoria Vetra in Angels & Demons (2009), a sequel to The Da Vinci Code (2006) that—by virtue of taking place in the same universe as that film—is arguably sort of Bible-adjacent (or adjacent to Bible-adjacent).
Ashraf Barhom (Doeg) played Judas Iscariot in The Savior (2014).
Bahia Haifi (Samuel’s wife Hila) played Mary in Full of Grace (2015).
Stewart Scudamore (Adriel) played Judah in In the Beginning (2000), James in Bible Mysteries (2004), Street Preacher in The Nativity Story (2006), Ramesses in The Bible (2013), King Hamor in The Red Tent (2014), Peter in Risen (2016), and Gamaliel in Testament (2025), a modernization of the book of Acts.
Martyn Ford (Goliath) played Goliath in an unaired pilot for Of Kings and Prophets (2016); he also played Flamma in Those About to Die (2024), a series set in ancient Rome that features Berenice, a Jewish queen who is mentioned in the book of Acts.
Melanie Benz (Dara) played Leah in The Chosen (2022).
Season 2 (2025)
Ariel Yagen (Abiathar) played Jesus in Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints (2025-2026).
Mohammad Bakri (Dayan, the King of Edom) played Mordecai in Esther (1986), Herod and the Devil in The Savior (2014), and Samuel in Of Kings and Prophets (2016); he also played Abu Yusef in The Body (2001), a movie about a priest who investigates the claim that an archaeologist may have discovered the skeleton of Jesus, and Farid in Those About to Die (2024), a series set in ancient Rome that features Berenice, a Jewish queen who is mentioned in the book of Acts.
The spin-offs
The Old Stories: Moses (2026)
Ben Kingsley (Moses) played Potiphar in The Bible Collection: Joseph (1995), Moses in The Bible Collection: Moses (1995), Nun in Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014), and Caiaphas in The King of Kings (2025); he also narrated The Ten Commandments (2007) and is reportedly in The Way of the Wind, which has been in post-production since 2019.
Anna Khaja (Zipporah) played Naomi in The Chosen (2025).
Three other actors with experience in (other) Bible movies are listed in the credits for Episode 1 of The Old Stories: Moses but have not yet appeared in the series:
Ahmed Lucan (Aaron) played John in Full of Grace (2015).
Maz Siam (Reuel aka Jethro) played an Elder in Full of Grace (2015) and Neriah in The Chosen (2019-2021); he is also reportedly going to play Jacob in a “dystopian drama short film” called Judah in which all the characters have biblical names.
Michael Sifain (Joshua) played Abel in the allegorical short film The Apple Tree (2025), which I have not been able to find any clips or images from online.
The more-research-needed pile
House of David actors I could not identify
Gabeen Khan played someone named Kish in S1E3. The biblical Kish was King Saul’s father, but that does not appear to be who the Kish of this series is. In any case, Khan played Jesus (as per the photo below) in the short film Road to Emmaus (2024).
Michael D’Cruze played Tribal Leader #1 in S1E1. He also played Caspar, one of the Magi (as per the photo below), in Killing Jesus (2015).
Honourable mentions
House of David actors who have appeared in Bible-adjacent films
Several actors from House of David have appeared in films and TV shows that feature biblical characters or have some sort of tenuous connection to the Bible but are not adaptations of biblical stories, per se.
The Body (2001) is about a priest who investigates the claim that an archaeologist may have discovered the skeleton of Jesus.
As noted above, Mohammad Bakri (Dayan, the King of Edom in Season 2) played Abu Yusef.
Angels & Demons (2009) is a sequel to The Da Vinci Code (2006), a film that posited that Jesus had a wife, a descendant of whom is still alive today.
As noted above, Ayelet Zurer (Ahinoam in Seasons 1 & 2) played Vittoria Vetra.
Die Akte Golgotha (2010) is about the discovery of an ancient tomb that seems to have belonged to a member of Jesus’ family.
Neil Malik Abdullah (Zebulun Leader in Season 1) played Nabot.
Messiah (2020) is a Netflix series about a man from the Middle East who might be the second coming of Jesus.
Nimo Hochenberg (Silas in Season 1) played Israel.
Naby Dakhli (Abinadab in Seasons 1 & 2) played Adar Golshiri.
Eden Saban (Besai in Seasons 1 & 2) played Samer’s Future Wife.
Those About to Die (2024) is a series about Roman emperors and gladiators that features Berenice, a Jewish queen who is mentioned in the book of Acts.
As noted above, Martyn Ford (Goliath in Season 1) played Flamma.
As noted above, Mohammad Bakri (Dayan, the King of Edom in Season 2) played Farid.
And, I think that about covers it. Did I miss any actors? If so, please let me know!
-
Past Bible-movie/franchise overlap galleries:
Star Wars | Harry Potter | Downton Abbey | Indiana Jones | The Exorcist | Labyrinth + Willow | Dune | The Omen | Alien | The Hobbit + The Lord of the Rings
— This post was updated multiple times between April 3 and May 15, 2026, to add Ariel Yagen and the cast of The Old Stories: Moses.
Given the close personal and professional ties between the makers of House of David and The Chosen, I’m a bit surprised that the two shows only have one actor in common… so far.
Ali Suliman is reportedly in Terrence Malick’s The Way of the Wind, which was filmed in 2019 and is still in post-production. So if you go by release date… and if you assume this film will be completed… then its release date is still in the future, which might make it more recent than any other film on this list, arguably. (Maybe it’s pre-recent? Pre-cent?)