Yerin Ha and Jen Taylor are at opposite ends of the Halo spectrum. Taylor has been part of the series since its inception as the iconic Cortana, a role she continues in the TV series, while Ha is playing an entirely new character in Kwan Ha, who acts as one of the series' central characters and brings no strings attached from the games. For both of them, that leads to different approaches, and different struggles when it comes to portraying their characters on screen.
"The easiest and the most difficult," Ha says, thinking over the question. "The difficult part for me is actually working with blue screens and green screens, I think that was really difficult because your imagination has to be on point. They can show you a storyboard, but whatever actually comes to life is so different to how you picture in your head. The easiest, I think, is actually the more intimate scenes. Just the dialogue scenes that I get to have with [Master Chief] or Soren or stuff like that. Just tapping into that emotional connection."
While Ha was learning and developing her character in real time, Taylor was bringing 20 years' worth of experience to the part. "I feel like she's like a glove that I put on," she says. "I've been doing it for so long, like 100 years. There are challenging things about the process for sure, but not about her character. Even the sticky parts of her character are things I, Jen Taylor, wouldn't do or don't agree with, I can still revel in because I get to play with them. Those are the fun things. Right?"
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While Taylor has been playing Cortana for 20 years - or, in her words, 100 - this is a different way of telling that story. It's almost like a Cortana origin story, and that meant thinking about her in a different way. "The character's in a different place in her journey, for sure," Taylor says. "We're gonna see a different part of her relationship with Master Chief, more of the building blocks of that relationship that we haven't seen before. Because we get to know the Master Chief a little more intimately, I get to experience the same experiences he's having, which is different for my character. That was a lot of fun. It was a little more intimate. That was a difference for me."
Taylor's experience ultimately proved valuable not just in terms of her own performance, but the reality of the show itself. While she says she didn't have any impact on the script itself, she was able to offer day-to-day tweaks. "I was able to have a few moments on set where I would say, 'I don't know if she would say it like that, can we look for a different way for her to say something, or a different way to express an emotion?'. That was the ability that I felt I had. But I mean, the script was already solid by the time I got there by the time I got involved, so I didn't have input in that way."
Ha didn't have to reckon with the idea of what Kwan would do in the game, given that Kwan isn't actually in the games. For Ha herself, this was something of a relief that offered more creative freedom. "I am actually glad that that was the case," she laughs. "I think if I was to play anyone like Miranda Keyes or something like that, knowing my personality, I think I would just go into a panic attack and freak out. Being able to have the creative freedom and just sit with it, and mould Ha into who I want her to be and how I want her to be portrayed, that gave me a lot less pressure. I already put a lot of pressure on myself, trust me. Being able to have those conversations with the producer and to see their vision of Kwan and who they want her to be for this storyline. That was really special for me and was creatively very fulfilling."
This idea of 'creative fulfilment' is crucial to Ha's decision to take on the role of Kwan. Right from her very first experience with the character, she was on-board. "I've never really gotten briefs for characters like Kwan, to be honest with you," she says. "The industry is really changing. It really started with Crazy Rich Asians, and I'm going to bring it back there because I feel like that really shook Hollywood up. But to see such a young, powerful Korean woman, just unapologetically speak her voice, speak her mind, try to do whatever it takes to get what she wants, but also trying to do it for the greater good for the people, understanding what sacrifices, understanding what a legacy is. That kind of storyline is what really hooked me. And I found that that was really important to tell, and we don't really get to see that many times. It's definitely changing. But growing up, I never saw those stories. I only saw Asian women playing stereotypes in convenience stores and all this kind of stuff. So for me it's also really important that younger generations see themselves be portrayed in a really fierce way."
This interview was held in conjunction with journalists from Sci-Fi Vision, Shacknews, Comic-Con.com, LRM Online, and PopCulture.com. Halo premieres on Paramount+ on March 24