Pablo Schreiber Details Responsibilities and Challenges of Playing Halo’s Master Chief in New Interview

Halo has been a pop culture touchstone since the release of the original video game in 2001. The series is set in the year 2552 and follows an elite group of super soldiers known as Spartans as they protect the galaxy from the Covenant, an alien empire. The success of the franchise has led to a television adaptation on Paramount+ that premiered earlier this week. The series stars Pablo Schreiber as Master Chief, leader of the Spartans and humanity’s most powerful weapon against the Covenant. Schreiber recently sat down with reporters from the New York Post to discuss the challenges that come with playing such an iconic character and how Halo will inevitably draw comparisons to other series in the genre.

In Schreiber’s view, playing Master Chief comes with a lot of responsibility due to the franchise’s huge fanbase. Schreiber himself recalls playing the original Halo while a student in high school, an experience that brought a degree of nostalgia to the role for him. Upon being cast in the series, Schreiber looked into other games in the series and was impressed with all the things that Master Chief had experienced in his 20-year story arc. Schreiber adds that in his view, fan interest in the television series is mainly due to the game being played in a first-person perspective. Schreiber concludes that seeing such an expansive world from the perspective of one character for two decades has led fans to see themselves as owning Master Chief, making the role a major challenge for him.

Part of that challenge also comes from Master Chief’s armor. In the series, Master Chief’s armor is a technological marvel, helping him be the perfect warrior. From an acting perspective, the armor is little more than a 50-pound plastic costume. Schreiber says that the weight of the armor is confining for him, making filming action scenes all the more difficult. In addressing these issues, Schreiber says that he learned to trust his instincts as an actor and rely on the creative choices of the show’s production crew.

Schreiber also addressed comparisons many fans have made between Halo and The Mandalorian. Many people who have seen the series point out that both shows follow warriors protecting children. In Halo’s case, Master Chief protects Kwan, a young refugee from the planet Madrigal. Schreiber says that he is fine with comparisons between the two series, feeling that both projects can stand on their own as interesting pieces of science fiction.

New episodes of Halo are available for streaming on Paramount+ each Thursday.