Halo star Pablo Schreiber has a message to share with critics and skeptics of Paramount Plus’ thus far widely-panned attempt to bring the Bungie-created franchise to the small screen.
Schreiber offered his thoughts to the series’ detractors on April 2nd, sharing a lengthy message to his personal Instagram alongside a pair of photos depicting him suited up as his character, series protagonist Master Chief.
“Huge thanks to everyone who has supported our show!” the actor opened. “We were the second most streamed piece of entertainment in the US last week behind Oscar’s Best Picture winner CODA and the most streamed in Canada!”
“With many more territories coming to Paramount Plus soon, Halo is now officially a huge hit, and soon to be a worldwide phenomenon!” he optimistically added.
Moving to address “all the fans who have been waiting for this moment for so long and to the newcomers who have responded with such overwhelming support and love,” Schreiber offered further thanks, asserting “I am honored and humbled to be in service to this amazing universe and lore.”
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The Orange is the New Black star then turned to “all the ‘fans’ rooting against the home team, who hated the show before they saw it and disagree with what we are doing.”
“I respect your opinion and I love you too,” he told them. “Because the truth is, we love the same thing. And I will keep working my a** off each and every day to make this show the best version of itself, to bring attention and respect to this Halo universe we love. For all of us…”
Though Schreiber’s message appears to offer recognition to the complaints of Halo’s critics, it should be noted that his use of the word ‘fans’ when addressing them was placed between quotation marks.
As such, it remains unclear whether the actor’s sentiments were sincere or yet another underhanded jab from Hollywood at the fans of a given production’s source material.
However, in fairness to Schreiber, the actor’s previous rhetoric towards those who approached the show with a less than enthusiastic outlook has been far more amicable and understanding than one would expect.
Asked at the South by Southwest 2022 festival if he had anything to say to those who were doubtful that the series would be anything but typical live-action-video-game-adaptation fare, Schreiber attempted to reassure them, “My big message to fans would be, ‘It’s OK. Relax. We got you!’”
“And that this is a new experience in a world that you love so much and have loved for so long,” he added. “It’s an opportunity to put down the controller and instead of being a co-owner or creator of this experience, you now get to sit back on the couch and watch this experience unfold.”
Further, Schreiber appears to have been one of the few, if not only individuals associated with the show to have actually and enthusiastically engaged with the Halo games.
“I quickly realized just how new I was to this medium,” Schreiber reminisced to Variety. “I spent the first few days of my Halo experience getting killed by Grunts.”
Sharing his excitement at the world conceived by Bungie, Scheiber marveled, “the richness and the depth of the universe was immediately kind of mind-boggling. And incredibly exciting, because what it means as a storyteller is that there’s already been a huge amount of preparation and groundwork.”
“I’m in the middle of a Halo Infinite campaign right now,” he concluded. “I’m having a great time. I’m constantly seeing all the things that are similar to what we were doing [on the show]. So that’s really, really fun.”
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