The Big Picture

Season 2 of Halo has higher stakes and a sense of impending doom throughout.
Bokeem Woodbine was pleasantly surprised by the increased involvement of his character, Soren, in this season.
The attention to detail in the action sequences of Episode 4 is impressive and sets it apart from other TV action.

With Halo Season 2 now streaming on Paramount+, we’ve picked back up with Master Chief (Pablo Schreiber) months after the Season 1 finale. The threat of the Covenant hangs heavy over humanity, and another fan-favorite character, Soren-066, played by Bokeem Woodbine, is soaking up some of this season’s limelight. He’s on the hunt for Dr. Catherine Halsey (Natascha McElhone), and managing his slipping reign over Rubble.

In an interview with Collider’s Steve Weintraub, Woodbine joins the discussion about the tonal shift of Season 2 and the impressive amount of work the cast and crew put into the action sequences, saying the attention to detail on the set of Halo rivals that of feature-length action movies he’s been on. He also touches on Soren’s arrest, what that means for the renegade Spartan, what intimidates his character more than the Covenant, and how surprised he was to find out how much of an arc Soren has this season. The actor also reminisces about his time on the set of Michael Bay’s The Rock, and sharing screen time and San Francisco with an ensemble cast.

Halo Aliens threaten human existence in an epic 26th-century showdown.Release Date March 24, 2022 Creator Steven Kane, Kyle Killen Main Genre Sci-Fi Seasons 2

COLLIDER: I’ve been a fan of yours for a long time, and I like throwing a curveball at the beginning, so if someone has never seen anything you’ve done before, what is the first thing you’d like them watching and why?

BOKEM WOODBINE: I would say go with Fargo, and the reason why is the dialogue was so well-crafted. It gave me an opportunity to really express myself fully.

Bokeem Woodbine Looks Back on Michael Bay’s ‘The Rock’

Image via Walt Disney

You’re in Michael Bay’s The Rock. I love this movie, and it was early in your career. What do you remember about being part of that film?

WOODBINE: Working on The Rock was a blast. All the guys were great, we all got along great. I got a chance to have a little bit of screen time with Ed Harris, who is somebody I’ve always admired. It was early in Michael Bay’s career, and he always takes risks, and when he was doing The Rock, he took even more risks. So, for those reasons, I had such a great time. We were in San Francisco, and the food in San Francisco… For anybody that’s been, the Chinese food specifically. If you like Chinese food and you live in North America, you need to go to San Francisco. So, for all those reasons, it was a great experience.

Related ‘The Rock’ Is Michael Bay at His Most Michael Bay, and That’s Why It’s Great Featuring Nicolas Cage, Ed Harris, and even Sean Connery as James Bond (arguably), ‘The Rock’ is Michael Bay at his finest.

I agree with what you said. So one of the things about Season 2 with Halo is it does feel like the galaxy is in a real state of emergency, and it feels darker, more threatening. The Covenant feels tougher. How have you been describing Season 2 to people as compared to Season 1?

WOODBINE: I agree with you. I’ve been describing Season 2 as a season where the stakes are much higher. There’s this relentless sense of impending doom that never really goes away. And even in moments of levity, or what you’re gonna perceive as calm, in the back of your mind there’s always this lingering threat, and it’s a pervasive element throughout the entire season. It’s a season filled with loss, with heroism, and it really, really taps into the pulse of the human condition in the 21st century. In a myriad of ways I can’t even begin to describe, the stakes are definitely much higher.

Fans Are Going to See a Lot More of Soren-066 in ‘Halo’ Season 2

Image via Paramount+

In the first episode, Soren is arrested. When you got the scripts and saw the arc for the season, were you like, “Wait, where is this going?” And also, when you get arrested, does that mean you’re closer to getting back to Master Chief and with some of your friends later in the season?

WOODBINE: I think that when I first saw the arc of Soren’s journey in Season 2, what impressed me was that there was just so much more involvement in the season than there was in Season 1, which I hadn’t anticipated. I imagined that I would just be like Special Teams, you know what I’m saying? I get called in, do my thing, and then I split. But this is an ongoing involvement and engagement in the show, so that threw me for a loop, to be honest with you. I didn’t see that coming. And as far as after Soren is taken into custody, will that bring him closer to his old Spartan comrades and Master Chief? That’s something that we’re just gonna have to wait and see. [Laughs]

Bokeem Woodbine Says ‘Halo’ Season 2, Episode 4 Is Unlike Any Action Movies He’s Done

I don’t know if you’re involved in it because I haven’t seen Episode 4 yet, but Episode 4, I know, has some oners. Obviously, they’re gonna be put together with stitches, but did you get to be involved in any of that?

WOODBINE: Yeah. Shooting Episode 4, it was like a science project, man. Everything had to have science measurements, the timing had to be correct. For the actors, there was an element of danger because of the pyro explosions, all of the debris, quite frankly. That was always going everywhere. You had to watch your footing, the person next to you. You had to be very aware of everything that was going on and there were multiple techs. There were action sequences in there that we would work on, you know, you’d start working on it on Monday and the following Friday of the next week you’re still kind of in the same sequence. They really wanted to make sure that they got it right, and it was a painstaking, meticulous approach to action sequences. I’ve worked on a lot of action pictures, but the attention to detail in Episode 4 was, I think, new for me. Nothing was left to chance. We were always safety first, which slows things down. When you care about the actors and don’t want them to get burned or smashed with something or whatever, it slows down the process, but I’m glad it did. I got the chance to see some of it, and it looks fantastic.

They just sent me the screener link for Episode 4 today and I can’t wait to watch it. It’s so unusual for a TV show to try to do this kind of ambitious filmmaking on a television budget and schedule.

WOODBINE: Yeah, exactly. And mind you, in Europe they don’t shoot quite as long as they do in the States, so to try to get all these things done in the time constraints that we had, it’s a miracle we pulled it off, to be honest with you.

The Covenant Doesn’t Scare Soren-066, His Wife Does

Image via Paramount+

When you saw this schedule, when you finally figured out what you’re doing in all of Season 2, what day did you have circled in terms of, “I can’t wait to film this,” and what day did you have circled as, “How the F are we gonna film this?”

WOODBINE: It’s a great question. There were some action sequences I had later in the season … that I was really looking forward to shooting. So that would be a day that falls into the category of, “I can’t wait to shoot this.” And there were some sequences I have with Fiona [O’Shaughnessy], who plays my wife, Laera, that I was not looking forward to because Soren wouldn’t be looking forward to having these kinds of conversations. These are the kinds of conversations that a person like Soren doesn’t anticipate having when he settles down. It’s like, “I’m gonna keep you safe, I’m gonna show you a good time, and I’m just gonna go kill whoever I need to and steal whatever I need to steal. And we’re gonna have a great life, and it’s gonna be simple. You’re safe, comfortable, happy, content. We raise our boy and then I go do what I gotta do, and the two worlds will never meet. It is what it is and it’s better that way.” But some of the intricacies and nuances of a relationship where two people truly love each other but have different perspectives, those aren’t the kinds of conversations someone even likes having. [Laughs] It’s just not his thing, man. I’m sorry, it’s not what he’s used to.

He’s very didactic, like, “People get out of line, I kill them. Somebody has something I want, I steal it,” and it’s very simple. It’s not a whole lot of complication. And then, for him to have to pause, slow down, and try to wrestle and grapple with the situations that come abou on an interpersonal relationship level is not something that he’s necessarily that talented at. So I think I probably felt the way he would feel about shooting some of those scenes. Fiona is a marvelous actress, wonderful person, a great scene partner, but yet, still there were a few scenes that’s between Soren and Laera that I was not looking forward to shooting.

You can stream Halo Season 2 on Paramount+ with episodes releasing every Thursday.

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