Being a Spartan with enhanced senses gives Master Chief the ultimate edge over his Covenant enemies, which is probably why the protagonist is always diving headfirst into danger in the Halo universe.
But, the actor to have taken on the role in the live-action adaptation apparently had to undergo a lot of training to imitate the super-soldier and bring him to life on the small screen.
Even though Halo premiered today to mixed reactions from fans, a lot of viewers are tuning in for the Paramount Plus series regardless. Like many of them, we were impressed by how seamlessly Pablo Schreiber brings Master Chief to life, even if he indeed takes off his helmet in the first episode.
For the actor himself, it seems that the process involved more than just memorizing a few lines and showing up on set. In a chat with ScreenRant, the American Gods star detailed his extensive training to become John-117.
“I did a couple of boot camps. I did the 343 boot camp, which is the studio that makes the video game. I went up to Seattle and did the 343 boot camp with Kiki Wolfkill and Frank O’Connor, and they just took me through a five-day information download on everything Halo; the history of the games, and a deep dive into the mythology and lore. Then they sent me away with a whole bunch of resources and information that I could dive and dig into myself a lot. There’s a lot, and it’s amazing. It’s so deeply realized and so rich. And then I went to Budapest about a month before we shot, and we did a physical boot camp of just training and learning how to use the suits and the weapons and all those kinds of things.”
With Paramount already renewing Halo for a second season, Schreiber will have a long journey ahead of him until he can finally retire from being humanity’s only hope against the alien onslaught, provided that the overall lackluster critical reception is not a sentiment viewers will echo as well.
You can now stream the first episode of Halo on Paramount Plus.
Published: Mar 24, 2022 01:59 pm