Spoiler Warning For Halo Episode 1
Paramount+ series Halo actor Pablo Schreiber opens up about the pressure that comes with playing a live-action Master Chief. The new series Halo is based on a hit video game franchise from Xbox Game Studios and it stars Schreiber, Bokeem Woodbine, Natasha McElhone, Yerin Ha, and Jen Taylor. The Paramount+ series will be creating a new timeline in the Halo universe called the Silver Timeline, which will use the existing storylines and characters from the games but will not follow the same narrative as the games. The series lead role is Master Chief and it is played by Schreiber.
Halo the series is set in the 26-century and will be centered on the Master Chief, who is the world’s deadliest weapon but also their greatest hope in the war with the Covenant (an alien race). While protecting a rebel group from the Covenant on planet Madrigal, Master Chief saves Kwan and also touches an object that seems to unlock his buried memories, and also makes him want to protect Kwan, even if it means going against him the orders given to him by the UNSC.
During an interview with Screen Rant, Schreiber opened up about what is it actually like to take on the role of the famous Master Chief from the Halo games. Schreiber said that it is a “huge honor, huge responsibility,” to play a character that is loved by so many. Here’s the full quote by Schreiber below:
“From the moment I got cast, I could feel from the online chatter, etc. how much it meant to people – how much the Halo universe meant to people and how much the character means to people… There’s a sense of ownership you have over the Chief. That we all have, because when you play the game, you’re playing as him. I definitely feel that sense of responsibility to make it right. Not just for Halo fans, but to expose this universe that I’ve fallen so deeply in love with to people who have never played the game and show them all why we love it so much.“
Schreiber is also doing something in the series that has only been teased in the games before, he is actually talking off the mask and showing us the face of Master Chief from Halo. The topic of unmasking Master Chief has been a bit divisive because some fans believe that Master Chief shouldn’t take his mask off because it keeps the mystery of Master Chief alive. But as the series is focusing on who Master Chief really is and it does exist in a different timeline than the games, it really was important that Master Chief takes his maks off. Kiki Wolfkill, the executive producer on the series said this about Master Chief unmasking himself in the series – “it felt really important to connect with the Master Chief in a different way, and that meant showing the face.”
The Halo series will live or die by how interesting the character of Master Chief aka Spartan John-117 is. So, to not see the face of a character on which you will be focusing all of the time in the series is a bit weird, but not completely unprecedented because the Star Wars series on Disney+ The Mandalorian does the same for the most part because for most of the time Mando (played by Pedro Pascal) never takes his mask off. In the end, with or without the mask playing such an iconic character is a big responsibility of which Schreiber seems completely aware and he is also driven to get the character of Master Chief right.