The Prodigal Son stars Tom Payne and Bellamy Young, who play Malcolm Bright and Jessica Whitly respectively, spoke about how they decided to join the TV show because of Michael. In an interview to Brief Take, Tom revealed:

And to have those amazing one-on-one scenes with Michael which are a gift. I know that everyone behind the scenes were excited for those. We shot them close to the end of the shoot and I was definitely very excited! Michael was a huge reason why I signed on to the show, because when you have an actor of that caliber like this on a tv show, you know you’re in safe hands. As an actor, you want to work with the best, and I really think that Michael is one of the best actors that we have, so that was a real gift for me.

Speaking to People, Bellamy called Michael “acting gold” and “fenomenally talented” and also told how she eagerly accepted the job once she learned he was in it. Watch the video below: