After a lengthy development process, Showtime’s series based on the video game ‘Halo’ is finally set to begin production this month in Budapest. As such, three regular cast members have been added– Danny Sapani, Olive Gray, and Charlie Murphy. In April, it was announced that Pablo Schreiber had been cast in the lead role, as the Master Chief.
Per Deadline, Sapani plays Captain Jacob Keyes, “a dedicated military man, a war hero and a caring father. He finds that working alongside his daughter and his ex-wife is usually the cause of conflict rather than comfort.”
Gray’s role is that of Dr. Miranda Keyes, “a brilliant UNSC Commander who is dedicated to understanding the technology, language, and culture of the Covenant, but she’ll have to learn to navigate the politics of the UNSC to get what she wants.” She is the daughter of Jacob Keyes and their relationship is tense.
Sapani may be best known for co-starring on ‘Penny Dreadful’, ‘The Bastard Executioner’, ‘MotherFatherSon’, and ‘Harlots’. He has also appeared in movies like ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ and ‘Black Panther’.
Gray portrayed Bernadette on ‘EastEnders’, and has also co-starred on ‘Half Moon Investigations’, ‘Year Million’, ‘Home From Home’, and ‘Dark Mon£y’.
Murphy portrays Makee, “an orphaned human who was raised by the alien Covenant and shares their contempt for humanity.” IGN confirmed that Makee is not to be confused with Mahkee, a female Sangheili character introduced in ‘Halo 5: Guardians’.
Murphy has won multiple awards for her role as Jessie Eden on ‘Peaky Blinders’, and she has also co-starred on ‘The Village’, ‘Love/Hate’, ‘The Last Kingdom’, ‘Rebellion’, and ‘Happy Valley’.
In addition to Schreiber, the cast of ‘Halo’ also includes Shabana Azmi as Admiral Margaret Parangosky, Natasha Culzac as Riz-028, Yerin Ha as Quan Ah, Bentley Kalu as Vannak-134, Kate Kennedy as Kai-125, Natascha McElhone as Dr. Catherine Halsey and her AI creation Cortana, and Bokeem Woodbine as Soren-006.
Kyle Killen (‘Awake’) and Steven Kane (‘The Last Ship’) serve as co-showrunners and executive producers. ‘Halo’ is set in the 26th century and depicts the invasion by an extraterrestrial force known as the Covenant. Even with a splashy sci-fi backdrop, the show is said to be “weaving deeply drawn personal stories with action, adventure and a richly imagined vision of the future.”
What do you think of the cast of ‘Halo’ so far?