**Playing a Role and Bringing a Character to Life**

As I stepped onto the set to film scenes for my latest video game, I couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement and nervousness. The role of a strong black character was one that I had been eager to take on, and I was determined to bring as much depth and nuance to the part as possible. The process began with a series of technical tests, where my face would be captured for use in various scenes throughout the game.

"I open my mouth as wide as I can," I explained to the camera crew, "because that's what they'll want me to do when we're recording those close-ups." It was all about creating an authentic performance, one that would bring the character to life. The goal was to make sure that the scenes where I would be interacting with other characters felt natural and genuine. As an actor, this meant being fully present in the moment, responding truthfully to my fellow actors and the situation at hand.

As we began filming, I couldn't help but think about the diversity of the series as a whole. "I pride myself on approaching all the work the same," I said, reflecting on my own approach to acting. "Whether it's a strong black character or someone from a different background, it's all about the material and seeing if I can bring something unique to the part." For this particular role, there was an innate sense of equality that drew me in – like the character could be played by anyone, regardless of their background.

As we continued filming, I couldn't help but think about the future of the series. "It's 400 years ahead of time," I mused, "so hopefully people won't notice that it's a black guy." The goal was to create a sense of equality and universality, one that transcended the character's background or appearance.

**The Heart and Soul of the Character**

But what made my character tick? What drove him forward in the face of danger and uncertainty? As I delved deeper into the role, I began to uncover the complexities of his personality. "He's a pragmatist," I explained, "very logical but also fundamentally driven by his mission." The character was someone who would give his life for others, who would sacrifice himself without hesitation in order to protect those he cared about.

"I like that about him because it's not something you see very often nowadays," I said, reflecting on the values that I believe are essential to creating a strong and compelling character. As an actor, this meant finding ways to convey that sense of vulnerability and doubt, even as my character stood tall in the face of adversity.

**The Diversity Equation**

As I looked around at the world we were creating, I couldn't help but think about the diversity equation – how we balance different perspectives and experiences to create something truly unique. "I'm colorblind," I said, reflecting on my own approach to acting. "It's just the material and if I can play it, then that's what happens." But despite this, there was something innate about the character that drew me in – a sense of equality and universality that transcended his background or appearance.

**The Future of Gaming**

As we wrapped up filming for the day, I couldn't help but think about the future of gaming. "I'm not the biggest gamer," I admitted, but my experience with Halo had been eye-opening. "It's a 3D game with huge speakers and you're just creating it all day long," I mused. The process was intense and immersive, and I found myself feeling like I was truly becoming a part of the world we were creating.

**The Master Chief Collection**

As I left the set to film for my latest video game, I couldn't help but feel excited about the future of this series. "It'll be out in November," I said, reflecting on the release date. And with it will come the Master Chief Collection – a collection of games that fans have been eagerly awaiting. As one of the actors involved in bringing these characters to life, I couldn't wait to see how they would be received by fans around the world.

For me, this was about more than just playing a role or acting in a game. It was about creating something truly special – something that would resonate with audiences and leave a lasting impression.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enon November 11th Halo fans will be taken back to the edge of the Galaxy and Beyond in Halo Nightfall a liveaction digital series produced by none other than legendary sci-fi director rley Scott the series will star the newly minted Spartan soldier Adent Jameson lock lock is a big deal while details surrounding his character are thin we do know he'll be playable in Halo 5 making him a major new human face for the series growing mythology he's played by actor Mike couter who you may have seen in men and black 3 and the goodwife and I got to sit down with him to talk about the role so Mike pleasure to have you here just going to get right to it you're basically the new face of Halo Master Chief we' never seen his face the Arbiter you played him but he was an alien what's it like to be the first human face that players are actually engaging with and what's the expectations parting that what appealed to me about the project was that they approaching it from a a cinematic standpoint of having a film and then following the film character into the game world and I felt like for me as an actor that was what was appe appealing you know you get to create a character who has you know the nuances of of all the the richness of a human quality that going to put into the game and so hopefully the fans and The Gamers will connect to that and then they will I guess just have a better gaming experience because of it well starting with the show first I mean you're working with Really Scott executive producer what's it like working with him is he Hands-On or you know it's funny because this this this his production company is called scottf free and I think it I think it really does uh does relate to how he approaches it I mean it is Scott free I mean he is you know he he does keep his finger on the pulse he's very involved as far as the the creative aspect of it you know when you're in a pre-production you can tell I mean it's the quality um there's a lot of nuances to the film I think people are going to appreciate I think you'll see a little Blade Runner feel to it you see a little alien feel to it it Predator I mean it has a little bit of all of those things kind of combined visually um when I first saw some of the the daily rushes I looked at it and I thought wow this reminds me of like Children of Men which cinematically I I I really thought that was kind of cool so um it looks you know looks kick ass as far as the game is concerned I mean you said motion capture and like your face is actually in the game so you were in the whole suit the full ball suit yeah yeah and there are no cameras allowed on Set uh when that's going on because I don't want anybody to see me walk around around that suit it is quite comfortable though it's kind of like going to bed but you're not yeah it's kind of like that it's it's meticulous and and it's tedious process uh we did the scanning for my facial uh imagery uh we did that for about 3 hours I mean about I say about 30 40 cameras you know position just so so they're not missing anything you sit there and you make every facial expression known to man what the wildest expression that you had to make like in that process I think it was something like oh well there's an expression I couldn't do like either to flare your nostrils I can't flare my nostrils I was like you want me flare my nostrils I'm like God I'm so glad I can't do it because I'm like I don't want you to have that as a possibility and then the one where you you open your mouth as wide as you can yeah that I'm not going to do that now but that yeah you open your mouth as wide as you can for some reason um so then they'll use that and there'll be certain scenes obviously certain levels of the game and where my character will will be interacting with another character you know as an actor but I have to first do the technical aspect so um yeah I'm pretty I'm pretty I'm pretty psyched about that having my face in a video game like that um and having my own action figure that's that's also something that's appealing um you know everyone should have their own action figure everyone should have their own action figure yeah have you seen the action figure yet I mean I've seen other people's action figures and I'm assuming that they're going to do a pretty good job because I I mean they tend to look a little better than than the person actually so you know me me having a bald head I'm sure it's going to be nice and smooth and it's going to shiny nice and shiny bald head um that'll be fun um but I haven't seen it yet right I mean I have to ask what is like the heart and soul of like this character like what makes him tick um well you know he's he's a a pragmatist he's very logical but he basically it's it's the mission the mission is what is what drives him I mean he does have doubts about things and and and especially in battle especially when your life is at stake in which a lot of that is going to you know you're going to see that because we're on a planet that basically Stakes are raised we have a time element we have to get off the planet in a matter of hours otherwise we will all die from the heat the Halo ring gets past um excess of 3400 degrees and we're talking about death immediately so honestly Locka is the kind of guy that would give his life um for the mission and for his uh his his colleagues he would he would die for them and he would die for the mission and that's something you just don't see very often nowadays um that's something that I I like about him because that's not me vastly def that's not me I would not die for the mission not yeah so I like I like acting and doing things that are completely out of the box for me yeah so like you took this role and like you know strong black character like what is the diversity equation like in this series that's what's weird about it you know I pride myself in approaching all the work the same you know I'm kind of colorblind in a sense even in America 2014 people go color blind how can you be it's pretty hard still but I just I just look at the work is always being you know it's just the material and if I'm able to play it and if they're able to see me in the character than than what they'll happen to have as a black guy who has a bald head who's 6 for three and all these things will just be you know just a happen stance or just you know just Randomness but when I read it I felt like I've come across car and I felt like it could go any color but you know there's something innate about it there's something there's an equality about it there's something you can't put your finger on whatever it was they saw that with me but um and uh so hopefully you know hopefully people when they look at it the first thing they won't notice is that he's a black guy cuz it's this is 400 years ahead of time so I mean I don't think anybody's going to be thinking about that 400 years I think we're probably you know I hope we pass that point or maybe I'm the only black man left by that time hopefully not hopefully not well you said that you're not the biggest gamer I'm going to hold you to that so how much Halo have you actually played very little very little I mean honestly I I just uh I just picked up a joystick at the uh Xbox Microsoft headquarters so they have a huge screen in there and they showed me a lot of the stuff as it was raw footage they as they were building the game and so I got to experience it on on a really intense level you know 3D with huge speakers and stuff and and um I can see why they do what they do because you sit there all day long and you're in this room and you're surrounded by you know these all this technology and you're just basically creating you know a game and I just uh look forward to uh seeing the finished product and I hope everybody's pleased with it um it'll be out in November and um it's available on Xbox One and to anyone who buys the Master Chief Collection so look forward to it thanks for coming out man thank you for having me man thankson November 11th Halo fans will be taken back to the edge of the Galaxy and Beyond in Halo Nightfall a liveaction digital series produced by none other than legendary sci-fi director rley Scott the series will star the newly minted Spartan soldier Adent Jameson lock lock is a big deal while details surrounding his character are thin we do know he'll be playable in Halo 5 making him a major new human face for the series growing mythology he's played by actor Mike couter who you may have seen in men and black 3 and the goodwife and I got to sit down with him to talk about the role so Mike pleasure to have you here just going to get right to it you're basically the new face of Halo Master Chief we' never seen his face the Arbiter you played him but he was an alien what's it like to be the first human face that players are actually engaging with and what's the expectations parting that what appealed to me about the project was that they approaching it from a a cinematic standpoint of having a film and then following the film character into the game world and I felt like for me as an actor that was what was appe appealing you know you get to create a character who has you know the nuances of of all the the richness of a human quality that going to put into the game and so hopefully the fans and The Gamers will connect to that and then they will I guess just have a better gaming experience because of it well starting with the show first I mean you're working with Really Scott executive producer what's it like working with him is he Hands-On or you know it's funny because this this this his production company is called scottf free and I think it I think it really does uh does relate to how he approaches it I mean it is Scott free I mean he is you know he he does keep his finger on the pulse he's very involved as far as the the creative aspect of it you know when you're in a pre-production you can tell I mean it's the quality um there's a lot of nuances to the film I think people are going to appreciate I think you'll see a little Blade Runner feel to it you see a little alien feel to it it Predator I mean it has a little bit of all of those things kind of combined visually um when I first saw some of the the daily rushes I looked at it and I thought wow this reminds me of like Children of Men which cinematically I I I really thought that was kind of cool so um it looks you know looks kick ass as far as the game is concerned I mean you said motion capture and like your face is actually in the game so you were in the whole suit the full ball suit yeah yeah and there are no cameras allowed on Set uh when that's going on because I don't want anybody to see me walk around around that suit it is quite comfortable though it's kind of like going to bed but you're not yeah it's kind of like that it's it's meticulous and and it's tedious process uh we did the scanning for my facial uh imagery uh we did that for about 3 hours I mean about I say about 30 40 cameras you know position just so so they're not missing anything you sit there and you make every facial expression known to man what the wildest expression that you had to make like in that process I think it was something like oh well there's an expression I couldn't do like either to flare your nostrils I can't flare my nostrils I was like you want me flare my nostrils I'm like God I'm so glad I can't do it because I'm like I don't want you to have that as a possibility and then the one where you you open your mouth as wide as you can yeah that I'm not going to do that now but that yeah you open your mouth as wide as you can for some reason um so then they'll use that and there'll be certain scenes obviously certain levels of the game and where my character will will be interacting with another character you know as an actor but I have to first do the technical aspect so um yeah I'm pretty I'm pretty I'm pretty psyched about that having my face in a video game like that um and having my own action figure that's that's also something that's appealing um you know everyone should have their own action figure everyone should have their own action figure yeah have you seen the action figure yet I mean I've seen other people's action figures and I'm assuming that they're going to do a pretty good job because I I mean they tend to look a little better than than the person actually so you know me me having a bald head I'm sure it's going to be nice and smooth and it's going to shiny nice and shiny bald head um that'll be fun um but I haven't seen it yet right I mean I have to ask what is like the heart and soul of like this character like what makes him tick um well you know he's he's a a pragmatist he's very logical but he basically it's it's the mission the mission is what is what drives him I mean he does have doubts about things and and and especially in battle especially when your life is at stake in which a lot of that is going to you know you're going to see that because we're on a planet that basically Stakes are raised we have a time element we have to get off the planet in a matter of hours otherwise we will all die from the heat the Halo ring gets past um excess of 3400 degrees and we're talking about death immediately so honestly Locka is the kind of guy that would give his life um for the mission and for his uh his his colleagues he would he would die for them and he would die for the mission and that's something you just don't see very often nowadays um that's something that I I like about him because that's not me vastly def that's not me I would not die for the mission not yeah so I like I like acting and doing things that are completely out of the box for me yeah so like you took this role and like you know strong black character like what is the diversity equation like in this series that's what's weird about it you know I pride myself in approaching all the work the same you know I'm kind of colorblind in a sense even in America 2014 people go color blind how can you be it's pretty hard still but I just I just look at the work is always being you know it's just the material and if I'm able to play it and if they're able to see me in the character than than what they'll happen to have as a black guy who has a bald head who's 6 for three and all these things will just be you know just a happen stance or just you know just Randomness but when I read it I felt like I've come across car and I felt like it could go any color but you know there's something innate about it there's something there's an equality about it there's something you can't put your finger on whatever it was they saw that with me but um and uh so hopefully you know hopefully people when they look at it the first thing they won't notice is that he's a black guy cuz it's this is 400 years ahead of time so I mean I don't think anybody's going to be thinking about that 400 years I think we're probably you know I hope we pass that point or maybe I'm the only black man left by that time hopefully not hopefully not well you said that you're not the biggest gamer I'm going to hold you to that so how much Halo have you actually played very little very little I mean honestly I I just uh I just picked up a joystick at the uh Xbox Microsoft headquarters so they have a huge screen in there and they showed me a lot of the stuff as it was raw footage they as they were building the game and so I got to experience it on on a really intense level you know 3D with huge speakers and stuff and and um I can see why they do what they do because you sit there all day long and you're in this room and you're surrounded by you know these all this technology and you're just basically creating you know a game and I just uh look forward to uh seeing the finished product and I hope everybody's pleased with it um it'll be out in November and um it's available on Xbox One and to anyone who buys the Master Chief Collection so look forward to it thanks for coming out man thank you for having me man thanks\n"