Who's Who in the Live-Action Series?
The game series Halo has been a household name for the past two decades. It is fair to say that any series based on one of the most popular video game franchises of all time has a pretty big weight on its shoulders. So who can you expect to see in Kyle Killen (Lone Star) and Steven Kane’s (The Last Ship) Halo, set to be released on Paramount+ on March 24? If you haven’t already, watch the trailer below so you can glimpse these actors in action.
Watch the Halo Trailer
From the trailer, it's clear that the show is keeping to the aesthetic of the games in terms of settings, weapons, and themes. It's also clear that Halo will be centered around the story of Master Chief, the main character from all the Halo games. So first up, let's look at our Master Chief.
Pablo Schreiber as Master Chief
Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 (aka Master Chief) will be played by Pablo Schreiber (Orange is the New Black, American Gods). The hero of both the game series and Halo: the TV series, Master Chief is a super soldier engineered by the United Nations Space Command (UNSC) to be the very best of the SPARTAN II program, designed to both control and protect the human race. While in the games Master Chief is never seen without his armor, the trailer has already sparked controversy by unveiling a, well, unveiled Master Chief. Schreiber said in a recent interview with The Nerds of Color that this was a deliberate effort by the showrunners to highlight the dichotomy of the super soldier and the human inside the suit.
Speaking to Collider's own Steve Weintraub, Schreiber went into what it was like to get the call to play Master Chief saying, "I feel really, really fortunate with the collaborators I've been able to work with. But this is a career moment, right? It's an opportunity, my first opportunity, to play the lead of a show. And that comes with a lot of responsibilities, first of all, and just how you interact on set and the tone that you set with crew and with the rest of the cast. Then you just want it to be as good as it can be."
Jen Taylor as Cortana
Anyone familiar with Halo is familiar with the voice of Jen Taylor. She's the actor who has been voicing Master Chief’s highly intelligent and useful AI partner through the entire game series, which now spans over two decades. It is a delight to see that she has been bought on board the live action adaptation. Losing her incredible voice might have had fans up in arms, and it is a nice touch of familiarity, even if Cortana has a brand-new look.
Natascha McElhone as Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey
Dr. Halsey is the originator of the SPARTAN II program and in the franchise is an antagonistic figure who organized the abduction and experimentation on children to create super soldiers like Master Chief. Natascha McElhone is a household name since her roles in The Truman Show and Californication, but now she is back, this time in a very new setting. When Master Chief begins to rebel from his strict regime, it is down to Dr. Halsey to control him, as seen in the trailer. We also however see some slight doubt and resistance, excellently portrayed by McElhone, so we can expect that Dr. Halsey may not be quite the villain she is in the video game franchise.
Yerin Ha as Kwan Ha Boo
This character is a completely new introduction for the franchise, conceptualized for the show. Kwan Ha Boo is a human insurrectionist, a group the SPARTAN II program was designed to quell, however we see in the trailer that they bring out some of the humanity of Master Chief as he becomes embroiled in the politics entwined in the show. It is a heavy role for breakout actor Yerin Ha who had to undergo physical training for the fight scenes in the show.
Bokeem Woodbine as Soren-066
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Emmy-nominee Bokeem Woodbine (Fargo, Spider-Man: Homecoming) will be taking on the role of Soren-066, who in the game franchise was given a desk job at the UNSC after being deformed as a child when undergoing experiments in the SPARTAN II program. We know that this will certainly be a complex character, though we don’t know whether the show will run with his history from the video games. Woodbine definitely has the credentials for this sort of role and we look forward to seeing his acting talent in the show. is playing him in the show.
Danny Sapani as Captain Jacob Keyes
Captain Jacob Keyes in the games is a friend of Master Chief, though we have yet to see that relationship revealed by the trailer. He has had a relationship with Dr. Halsey and together they have a daughter, Miranda Keyes, who may play a larger role in the show. The character will be played by Danny Sapani, no stranger to the sci-fi world having played roles in both Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Black Panther.
Charlie Murphy as Makee
The haunting, human face of the Covenant will be played by Charlie Murphy (Peaky Blinders). Makee is a human character, raised by the Covenant who came to join their ways. Frank O'Connor, Franchise Development Director at 343 Industries, has stated that audiences will be shown why Makee was spared from destruction by the Covenant within minutes of being introduced to her. He also mentioned that the rationality behind this decision involves something anyone familiar with the Halo games should know about, no pressure.
Olive Gray as Dr. Miranda Keyes
Miranda Keyes, the daughter of Jacob Keyes and Catherine Halsey has a strained relationship with her career driven mother in the games, however, they are a part of the UNSC from the trailer, working alongside the Spartans and working on the “sacred ring” otherwise known as… Halo. Evidently they will have a large role to come and Olive Gray is up to the task, having been in the acting world landing lead roles in shows such as Half Moon Investigations since they were a child.
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