The Halo TV show's Cortana will now be played by her original voice actress

[Polycount]

Something to look forward to: Few Halo characters are as beloved as Halo's Cortana: Master Chief's ever-present, wisecracking AI companion, brought to life by phenomenal voice actress Jen Taylor. However, her talent won't be restricted to the video game realm -- due to a scheduling issue with the Halo TV series' previous Cortana actress, Taylor will be stepping in to take over.

This news, which comes courtesy of IGN, is extremely exciting for Halo fans like myself. Taylor is a legend in the gaming industry, and given her years of experience playing this character, it's only natural that she would do so again for Halo's live-action debut.

She's portrayed Cortana in every single Halo game to do date -- her voice is so tightly intertwined into the DNA of the franchise that Microsoft couldn't (easily) replace her even if they wanted to.

Cortana on the left, Jen Taylor on the right.

We're a bit confused as to why Taylor wasn't Showtime's (the company behind the Halo TV series) first pick, but perhaps it felt that voice acting skills won't necessarily translate to physical acting skills. The reverse is certainly true, as we've seen time and time again with poorly-done celebrity cameos in AAA video games.

Unfortunately, this good news aside, we don't have any further details for you regarding the Halo TV series' launch date. All we know is that it's being directed by Otto Bathurst (of Black Mirror fame), and it's being produced in collaboration with Halo developers 343 Industries.

While we wait for more details regarding a release date, we'd love to hear your thoughts on this news in the comments. Do you agree with Showtime's casting decision, or do you think the original actress -- Natascha McElhone -- would've done a better job?

Middle image credit: IGN

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/87571-halo-tv-show-cortana-now-played-original-voice.html

 

[Squid Surprise]

Considering video games-turned-live-action-tv-series are almost always of such high quality, I highly doubt the casting of Cortana will matter... I suspect my sister could be cast and the show would remain the same.

 

[SirDigby]

Almost looking forward to this!

 

[scavengerspc]

"We're a bit confused as to why Taylor wasn't Showtime's first pick"

It's not a bad question really.

 

[kapital98]

"We're a bit confused as to why Taylor wasn't Showtime's first pick"

It's not a bad question really.

Natascha McElhone (the original pick) has a long history of being in big budget films and working with some of the most talented people in the industry.

With that said, she's also commonly been criticized for her performances and generally seen as bringing her co-stars (Fiennes, Clooney, etc) down. Her career just never turned out the way it could have. It's hard to tell if this is because of her limited abilities or just bad luck.

I think she would have been a safe pick for executives to greenlight a project. Someone who's bankable due to past work.

 

[scavengerspc]

Natascha McElhone (the original pick) has a long history of being in big budget films and working with some of the most talented people in the industry.

With that said, she's also commonly been criticized for her performances and generally seen as bringing her co-stars (Fiennes, Clooney, etc) down. Her career just never turned out the way it could have. It's hard to tell if this is because of her limited abilities or just bad luck.

I think she would have been a safe pick for executives to greenlight a project. Someone who's bankable due to past work.

I looked her up on IMDB and now I can place her but I didnt recognise her name at first. You are right she has worked with some of the industries top actores and directors.
If nothing else I guess just being able to relate to her voice will be a plus.