In the Halo TV series, Master Chief takes off his helmet. This might not sound like a big deal, but Master Chief almost never takes his helmet off in the games, so the announcement that he would in the TV series ruffled a lot of feathers. Now, Master Chief actor Pablo Schreiber is doubling down on that decision and further discussing why he believes it’s in the best interest of the storytelling heading into Season 2.
Speaking to SFX Magazine (via Games Radar), Schreiber said the naysayers might want to reconsider their opinion.
“People who don’t feel the helmet was necessary to come off, they’re at such an early conception of what the show could be,” ” he said. “In order to examine the discrepancy between these two versions of the character [Chief and John-117], you can’t tell that story without taking the helmet off.”
He added: “If you don’t agree with the helmet coming off in the show, you don’t like our show. So, there’s no point discussing it.”
Schreiber previously talked about how he believed there would be no way to do the Halo story justice for a TV show without Master Chief taking his helmet off.
“For long-form television storytelling format, it’s just essential that you have access to the face so [that] you have access to the character’s interior life,” he said. “So [that] an audience can go along with the character for the long haul of a journey. You really need to know your character in order to kind of break down the barrier between them.”
In other news, Schreiber said it was a “huge mistake” for Master Chief to have sex in Season 1.
In addition to Schreiber, the returning cast for Halo Season 2 includes Natascha McElhone, Jen Taylor, Bokeem Woodbine, Kate Kennedy, Charlie Murphy, and more. If you’re just catching up on the Halo TV show, every episode in Season 1 is streaming for free on YouTube.
Halo Season 2 releases February 8 on Paramount+.
