The video game that made me fall in love with video games was… well, Guitar Hero, actually. However, I still have fond memories of the first time I played Halo - an Xbox exclusive, first-person shooter set on a ring-shaped world infested with the genocidal alien race, the Covenant. Thus, you can imagine my reaction to the news that a live-action TV series inspired by the enduring franchise was coming to Paramount+.
Considering how most adaptations of video games tend to be received, I was - let’s say - “cautiously optimistic” about it until I remembered there have been some video game adaptations that have exceeded their reputation in recent years. Then I saw the actors involved in this new series and became even more excited. The following is a breakdown of who is playing who on the Halo TV show cast, starting with the next helmeted, intergalactic badass you are destined to root for.
Pablo Schreiber (Master Chief)
Given the honor of being the “face” of Halo - Master Chief - is Pablo Schreiber (half-brother of Liev), who is best known for his Emmy-nominated role on Netflix’s Orange is the New Black cast as “Pornstache.” He made his acting debut in the 2001 comedy Bubble Boy before joining HBO’s The Wire cast in 2003 and continuing to star in movies like The Manchurian Candidate in 2004 or the Neil Armstrong biopic First Man in 2018, in addition to more TV roles like Mad Sweeney on American Gods. Schreiber most recently, and most notably, starred opposite Chris Evans in the Apple TV+ miniseries Defending Jacob in 2020 and in the period fantasy film The King’s Daughter in 2022.
Natascha McElhone (Dr. Catherine Halsey)
The role of Dr. Catherine Halsey on Halo is not Natascha McElhone’s first time playing a video game character, having previously voiced Marie Belmont for two installments of the Castlevania series. Non-gamers will more likely remember the English actress as Jim Carrey’s crush, Lauren (whose real name turned out to be Sylvia), in The Truman Show; David Duchovny’s on-and-off lover, Karen van der Beek, on Showtime’s Californication; or the First Lady of the United States, the ill-fated Alex Kirkman, on Designated Survivor, to name a few. McElhone recently played another person involved with space travel on Hulu’s The First and, also in 2022, led the cast of the Britbox original drama Hotel Portofino.
Jen Taylor (Cortana)
Reprising the role of Master Chief’s AI companion, Cortana (whom she has played in every Halo installment and previous animated adaptations of the franchise) is Jen Taylor, who is most definitely no stranger to voicing video game characters. She made her debut in 1997’s Backyard Baseball as various characters whom she would reprise in subsequent editions, has been the voice of Princess Peach since first playing her in 1999’s Mario Golf, was Zoey in both Left 4 Dead games, and has even leant her voice to several video games based on movies - such as when she played Amanda in the 2009 Saw game. Outside of that medium, Taylor has also appeared in the Jackie Robinson biopic 42, played Miss Stock on Netflix’s Everything Sucks!, and narrates the anime series RWBY.
Bokeem Woodbine (Soren-066)
As SPARTAN-II Program candidate, Soren-066, we have Bokeem Woodbine, who is no stranger to the sci-fi/action genre, having starred as one of Vulture’s goons in Spider-Man: Homecoming, a tough sergeant in the WWII-era horror flick Overlord, and a sheriff in Ghostbusters: Afterlife, to name a few. He also proved his worth to join a series like Halo years earlier in 1996’s The Rock, as well as his acting chops in acclaimed favorites like 2004’s Ray or Queen & Slim in 2018 and TV shows like cop thriller Southland, WGN’s pre-Civil War drama Underground, or FX’s dark anthology dramedy Fargo. He also starred on Hulu’s Wu-Tang: An American Saga, having previously appeared in two of the rap group’s music videos in 2000.
Shabana Azmi (Parangosky)
Playing Admiral Margaret Orlenda Parangosky, the former Commander-in-Chief of the Office of Naval Intelligence in the games, on Halo is veteran actress Shabana Azmi, who has starred in countless classic films originating from her native country, India - such as the 1996 romance Fire - as well as TV shows like the Indian version of 24. Speaking of, she once starred opposite Kiefer Sutherland (as well as future Oscar nominee Riz Ahmed and Liev Schreiber) in the 2012 thriller The Reluctant Fundamentalist and American audiences may also recognize her as a queen in Son of the Pink Panther from 1993. Before joining the Halo cast, Azmi starred on the UK miniseries Next of Kin in 2018 and the Indian historical drama, The Empire, in 2021.
Natasha Culzac (Riz-028)
Riz-028, a super soldier for the United Nations Space Command, is played by Natasha Culzac, who made her feature-length acting debut, after starring mostly in short films, in 2019’s Men in Black: International as a night club waitress. That same year, she had a bigger role in the British dystopian drama The Strangers, FX’s miniseries adaptation of A Christmas Carol, and appeared on an episode of another series based on a hit video game: Netflix’s The Witcher. The following year, she collaborated with the streaming platform again on three episodes of another fantasy drama called Cursed.
Olive Gray (Dr. Miranda Keyes)
As the daughter of Dr. Catherine Halsey, Miranda Keyes, we have Olive Gray - who got her start on the UK family dramedy The Story of Tracy Beaker before appearing in several episodes of the long-running British crime drama EastEnders and, soon after, joining the cast of a family-friendly British crime drama called Half Moon Investigations. In more recent years, she had a guest spot on the Emmy-winning Fleabag in 2016, starred opposite Elle Fanning in the 2018 music drama Teen Spirit, and also appeared on acclaimed dramedies like HBO Max’s Pure and Sex Education for Netflix. She also starred in the BBC/BET+ original miniseries Dark Money, Season 2 of Peacock’s British import Save Me, and the romantic horror story, Rose, in 2020.
Yerin Ha (Kwan Ah)
A wholly originally character from the Halo series named Kwan Ah is played by Yerin Ha, whose first credited role was as a dancer in the music video “I’ve Gotta Have You” in 2016. That would lead to her official acting debut with a recurring role on the short-lived ABC crime drama Reef Break, starring Poppy Montgomery, in 2019. In 2022, she starred opposite Thomas Jane on another intriguing thriller called Troppo and made her feature-length debut in the horror film Sissy.
Bentley Kalu (Vannak-134)
Before playing Vannak-134, another new character on Halo, Bentley Kalu fought aliens in Edge of Tomorrow, dressed like a robot on Season 11 of the British sci-fi comedy classic Red Dwarf, and leant his voice to a number of hit video games - including Star Wars: Battlefront II and Battlefield 2042. He has popped up in several other blockbuster films, such as Red 2 in 2013 as a commando, 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron as one of Klaue’s goons, and the animated sci-fi comedy Ron’s Gone Wrong as a cop in 2021. Look out for his appearance in the April 2022 release Morbius, opposite Jared Leto in the vampiric title role.
Kate Kennedy (Kai-125)
Another new character, Kai-125, is played by Kate Kennedy - yet another veteran of video game voice acting on the Halo cast who played Avela Kjar in Mass Effect: Andromeda, several characters in Divinity: Original Sin II, and Hela (Cate Blanchett’s Thor: Ragnarok character) in LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 in 2017. In later years, she leant her voice to World of Warcraft: Battle of Azeroth and Battflfield V in 2018, played Rythe in 2019’s Anthem, was Lady Eadwyn in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla in 2020, and will voice several characters in the announced Squadron 42. Outside of the gaming world, she made her acting debut in the 2014 comedy Gregor, was in a 2016 TV adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and has also done several shorts.
Charlie Murphy (Makee)
Another character debuting on the Halo TV series is a human raised by the Covenant named Makee, played by Charlie Murphy. This Irish actress is known for hit UK-based series like the sci-fi dramedy Misfits, the period crime drama Peaky Blinders, or the modern crime procedural Happy Valley - the latter two of which are available in the States through Netflix. She is also known from acclaimed movies like 2013’s Philomena, the historical war film ’71, and the Jackie Chan-led action flick The Foreigner.
Danny Sapani (Captain Jacob Keyes)
The highly decorated Captain Jacob Keyes, who is also Miranda Keyes’ father, is played by Danny Sapani - an English actor also known for appearing on hit UK television series like Doctor Who or Misfits, as well as Showtime’s Penny Dreadful and the multi-Emmy-winning Killing Eve. He is also known for the Danny Boyle-directed and James McAvoy-led thriller Trance from 2013 and has appeared in both the Star Wars movies (as “Medical Frigate Captain” in The Last Jedi) and in the Marvel movies (a “Border Tribe Elder” in Black Panther).
As an explanation for all the new characters added to the Halo cast, the series (developed Steven Kane and Kyle Killen) diverts slightly from the video games’ canon and its referred to as the “Silver Timeline.” We shall see how die-hard gamers enjoy this new interpretation after streaming the show on Paramount+.
