HALO Star Pablo Schreiber Explains Why Removing Master Chief's Helmet is Important For The Series

A few weeks ago it was revealed that Master Chief will remove his helmet and reveal his face in the upcoming Halo series. This caused a little bit of controversy because Master Chief’s identity has always been a mystery, and personally, I like that aspect of the character. I think there’s a benefit of keeping the mystery, but the creative team and the actor are trying to convince the fans that showing his face will benefit the series.

In a recent interview with /Film, Master Chief star Pablo Schreiber shared his thoughts on Master Chief removing his helmet, driving home the belief that it’s necessary for the character:

"I always knew that the helmet off was going to be a big part of the show because, just quite frankly, it's the only way to tell this story in long-form television format. The game was made as a first person shooter, where you're meant to believe that you're the Master Chief. So the character was kept vague for that reason, and you infuse the character with your own personality and your own subtleties. This is a TV show being made for long term success. In order to do that, you have to bring the audience along with you. And really, the only way of doing that is seeing the face, knowing how the character's feeling about things. That's how you empathize with them. That's how you go along with them on the journey.

“So it was always a necessary thing, and it was a necessary thing to do early, to get the audience comfortable with going on this journey. Also because the character has been kept vague for so long. The process of the first season is really the process of John learning who he is as a human being. So, 'Who is the Master Chief?' is kind of the big question that we're going to fill in, in the first season. It's through the process of him learning about himself, and therefore, we, as audience members, will all learn about that along with him."

While I understand what they are saying, I also understand the fact that Schreiber is an actor and actors want to show their face in the projects they star in. Halo producer Kiki Wolfkill previously explained that while they will show Master Chief’s face, they still want to respect the fans who feel that Master Chief needs to keep his helmet on, saying:

"For some people, it’s been a moment 20 years in the making, and for other people it is something that feels very hard to imagine. We absolutely respect both sides of that fence, those who really want to see Chief’s face and those who really don’t. But for the nature of this story, it felt really important to connect with the Master Chief in a different way, and that meant showing the face."

In the end, all I want is for the series to tell a solid story. Sure, as a purist I don’t think Master Chief’s face should be shown. But, I still can’t help but be excited for the series. I just hope it lives up to the expectations.

The series follows the “epic 26th-century conflict between humanity and an alien threat known as the Covenant, Halo the series will weave deeply drawn personal stories with action, adventure and a richly imagined vision of the future.”

Master Chief is described as Earth’s most advanced warrior and “the only hope of salvation for a civilization pushed to the brink of destruction by the Covenant, an unstoppable alliance of alien worlds committed to the destruction of humanity.”

The 10-episode series is set to premiere on Paramount+ on March 24th, 2022.