Master Chief actor doubles down on decision to remove his character's helmet in Halo TV show: "There’s no point discussing it"

Master Chief actor Pablo Schreiber has doubled down on one of the Halo TV show's most controversial decisions – and yes, it does involve his helmet.

"People who don’t feel the helmet was necessary to come off, they’re at such an early conception of what the show could be," Schreiber tells SFX magazine in the new issue, which features Halo season 2 on the cover. 

"In order to examine the discrepancy between these two versions of the character [Chief and John-117], you can’t tell that story without taking the helmet off. If you don’t agree with the helmet coming off in the show, you don’t like our show. So, there’s no point discussing it."

The decision certainly proved to be a major talking point when Master Chief first removed his helmet in the season 1 pilot. The character doesn't reveal his face at all in the Halo video game franchise, despite there being six mainline entries. 

"We’re going to tell a story about the man inside the helmet," showrunner Steven Kane previously told SFX when season 1 was released. "If you read a book about the Master Chief, and there are many, they talk about him so you’re getting inside his head in a way that you wouldn’t get from playing the game. If you can give people that privileged point of view, why can’t you let them see his face?" 

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Halo season 2 premieres on February 8 on Paramount Plus. The above is just a snippet of our interview, available in the latest issue of SFX magazine, which features Halo season 2 on the cover and is available on newsstands from Wednesday, January 24. For even more from SFX, sign up for the newsletter, sending all the latest exclusives straight to your inbox.