HALO Star Pablo Schreiber Talks About a Huge Mistake in The Series That He Fought Against
Halo series star Pablo Schreiber recently opened up about the series and a “huge mistake” that he believes was made. That mistake was the creative team’s decision to include a Master Chief sex scene in the show's first season between John and the human covenant spy prisoner Makee. What made that whole thing even weirder was the fact Cortana was watching them the whole time!
This is a mistake that he actually pushed back on a fought against, but it was a fight that he ultimately lost. While talking to SFX, the actor shared:
"The decision to make the connection between Makee and John a romantic connection was a huge mistake. I felt it was a huge mistake at the time and I argued against it and fought against it. But I am who I am. I don’t write the scripts. I only give my opinion. It wasn’t listened to."
There are so many creative decisions that were made with this series that were mistakes! This was just one of them. Another thing that fans of the game had an issue with was Master Chief removing his helmet. This was a decision that Schreiber didn’t have an issue with, obviously because the actor got to show his face. He said in a previous interview:
"One thing I learned very early on is that there's as many different opinions in the Halo universe as there are Halo fans. So obviously, you're not going to be able to please everybody. But what I would say is that we are tailoring an entertainment experience that's tailored to the medium that it's for."
"When you play a first-person shooter, the way that a character is developed is very different than what's necessary when you're making long-form television. To go on this journey with your protagonist, you're not going to be able to bring an audience along in a long-form story without having access to a character's face, which tells you what they're feeling, how they think about everything. That access to a character's emotional life, over the course of time, is what makes you empathise and connect with a character."
"I'm sorry, but it's the only choice for long-form storytelling in television. What I would say to anybody who disagrees with that, I totally respect that opinion. But it's a pretty basic place to start when you're talking about making a television show of quality."
That can be and has been debated. A good storyteller and writer could make it work, though. Regardless of how much of a departure the show is from the source material, people still tuned in to watch and it was renewed for a second season. You can watch the trailer for that here.
The official description for Season 2 reads: “Master Chief John-117 leads his team of elite Spartans against the alien threat known as the Covenant. In the wake of a shocking event on a desolate planet, John cannot shake the feeling that his war is about to change and risks everything to prove what no one else will believe – that the Covenant are preparing to attack humanity’s greatest stronghold. With the galaxy on the brink, John embarks on a journey to find the key to humankind’s salvation, or its extinction — the Halo.”
The series comes from showrunner David Wiener and executive producer Kiki Wolfkill. The second season is executive produced by Wiener alongside Steven Spielberg, Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey for Amblin Television.
Season 2 will premiere on February 8, 2024, with the first two episodes of the season.