If you were a follower of HBO’s groundbreaking series Oz, then you remember Eamonn Walker. The British-born actor dazzled viewers for six years as Kareem Said, the radical Muslim activist who did his best to follow his own strict code of ethics…even though he often fell short. Walker plays another man of faith on NBC’s new drama, Kings, which premieres its two-hour pilot on Sunday at 8pm.
Taking place in an alternate universe where countries are still ruled by royalty, the series follows the exploits of one royal family, led by Walker’s fellow Englishman, Ian McShane. It’s a bold, creative series that makes excellent use of its talented ensemble. And if it becomes the hit it deserves to be, Walker could find himself with a whole new group of fans.
GIANT: So I have to admit that I was initially a little nervous when I sat down to watch Kings. NBC’s ad department hasn’t done a great job selling it.
Eamonn Walker: Well, this is an alternate universe, so you can’t really draw on anything because there isn’t anything like it. It’s very difficult to explain what it is. The people that advertise it work in a different department from the people that write it. Maybe they need to talk more often! [Laughs]
GIANT: They definitely do, because now that I’ve seen it, I’m completely hooked on the show and can’t wait to see what happens next.
Walker: So you’re an addict! You’ve made my day. The only thing I really want for audiences is to remain open and go on this journey with us. We had a great and exciting time making this show. If you open your heart to it, it will take you on an amazing journey.
Walker as Reverend Samuals in "Kings"
GIANT: Your role on the show is fascinating, because you’re the one deeply religious man in a kingdom that’s more atheistic.
Walker: My character, Samuals, is based very closely on Samual from the Old Testament. My reading of the Bible was that he was this old man and I knew I wasn’t going to play that. So I focused on the friendship he has with the show’s version of David (played by Christopher Egan) and King Silas (Ian McShane), our version of Saul. For me that was my springboard for who this man was. He was a man-he had a direct line to God, but he was a man. And in our story, that makes him very conflicted.
GIANT: It’s interesting that you’re so often cast as men of faith, from Kareem Said to Reverend Samuals.
Walker: I think its just coincidence. In terms Kareem, that character came from working with [Oz creator] Tom Fontana on a very close level, as well as going up to 116th Street and forming an understanding about Islam and African-American society, because that wasn’t my background. It was all research-trying to find a balance between the script and what was reality. Kings is slightly different. This is an alternate universe and Samuels is much more of a man of faith than Kareem was. Kareem often stated that he had faith, but when his faith got pushed, it would buckle. With this man, there’s no doubt in his mind. Everyday he has conversations with God and in the show’s universe, conversations with God are very real.
GIANT: You had been a working actor in England for many years prior to Oz, but that show was definitely your breakthrough role here in America. What was the transition between countries like?
Walker: It was very scary move across the Atlantic. I didn’t know how it was going to be different — I only knew I was going to continue to work with the philosophy I had built up. Luckily, I landed on Oz with Tom Fontana and all those wonderful actors. Once the work started, I wasn’t thinking about the differences between England and America-I was just trying to get the character right.
GIANT: In a way, you were fortunate that your first American show was on a cable network since that model is closer to British television in terms of creative freedom.
Walker: American network TV sometimes has its hands tied by rules and regulations and at that time, HBO was the spearhead for change. There were no regulations on cable — we could do everything and we had a writer like Tom Fontana who was brave and creative and willing to push taboo subjects without pushing messages into your head about what you should be thinking. I think we changed American television.
Walker as Kareem Said in "Oz"
GIANT: Funnily enough, you followed up Oz with a role on a conventional network TV procedural called Justice.
Walker: Yes, I did note the difference that I was on a more normal kind of track with that show. I loved the experience of working with [Justice producer] Jerry Bruckheimer and all of that, but sitting around and asking the questions and letting other people act, made me go “I can do that!” Towards the end of the show, they said “He wants to act, so give him something to act,” so I was lucky in that respect.
GIANT: You had a small role in last year’s Cadillac Records as well, playing legendary R&B singer Howlin’ Wolf.
Walker: I loved that character! It was pretty scary having to do my own singing, because I don’t sing. I mean, I sing to myself, but I don’t sing for other people to hear. But working with Jeffrey Wright [who plays Muddy Waters] and Adrien Brody [who plays Leonard Chess] was fantastic. I wanted to do way more with that character. I still play the harmonica now. Whenever I get a bit low, I pull out the harmonica and I’ve got two or three tunes I can play and am getting more all the time. It’s a wonderful instrument.
Walker as Howlin' Wolf in "Cadillac Records"
GIANT: Is there are role you haven’t played yet that you’re eager to take on next?
Walker: When I was a young actor, because of my size, the role I thought was going to come was Othello. So unbeknownst to anyone, I rehearsed and practiced for years before it actually arrived. I’ve played Othello twice now. There’s loads of characters I’d love to play, but that’s not where I come from primarily. The best way to describe it is that I have a kind of spider-sense-when I read a script and I tingle, I want to do it. Most of the time, I’m looking for the creative juices to flow and if I can feel someone else’s juices flowing through a piece of writing, I get really excited about it. Over the summer, I shot this series in England called Moses Jones. It’s about people who live in that country under asylum. If they go home they’re more or less dead, but in England they’re not allowed to work or own anything and they’ve got to survive while they’re papers get sorted out, which can take 12 years. That was the kind of script that made me go, “Wow.”
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