 On November 11th, Halo fans will be taken back to the edge of the galaxy and beyond in Halo Nightfall, a live-action digital series produced by none other than legendary sci-fi director Ridley Scott. The series will star the newly minted Spartan soldier Agent Jameson Locke. Locke 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 Colter, who you may have seen in Men in Black 3 and The Good Wife, 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've never seen his face. The Arbiter, we 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 part of that? What appealed to me about the project was that they were approaching it from 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 appealing. You get to create a character who has the nuances of all the richness of a human quality that you can put into the game. And so hopefully the fans and the gamers will connect to that and then they will, I guess, have a better gaming experience because of it. We'll start with the show first. I mean, you're working with Ridley Scott, executive producer. What's it like working with him? Is he hands on or? You know, it's funny because his production company is called Scott Free and I think it really does relate to how he approaches it. I mean, it is Scott Free. I mean, he does keep his finger on the pulse. He's very involved as far as the creative aspect of it. When you're in a Scott Free production, you can tell. I mean, the quality, there's a lot of nuances to the film. I think people are going to appreciate it. I think you'll see a little Blade Runner feel to it. You'll see a little alien feel to it. Predator, I mean, it has a little bit of all of those things kind of combined visually. When I first saw some of the Daily Rushes, I looked at it and I thought, wow, this reminds me of Children of Men, which cinematically, I really thought that was kind of cool. So it looks, you know, looks chick ass. As far as the game is concerned, I mean, you said motion capture and 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 when that's going on because I don't want anybody to see me walking around in 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 meticulous and it's a tedious process. We did the scanning for my facial imagery. We did that for about three hours. I mean, I'd say about 30, 40 cameras positioned just so, so they're not missing anything. You sit there and you make every facial expression known to man. What's the wildest expression that you had to make in that process? I think it was something like, oh, well, there's an expression I couldn't do, like you had to flare your nostrils. I can't flare my nostrils. I was like, you want me to flare my nostrils? I'm like, 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 open your mouth as wide as you can. Yeah, I'm not going to do that now, but yeah, you open your mouth as wide as you can for some reason. So then they'll use that and there'll be certain scenes, obviously, certain levels of the game and where my character will be interacting with another character as an actor, but I have to first do the technical aspect. So yeah, I'm pretty psyched about that, having my face in a video game like that and having my own action figure. That's also something that's appealing. Everyone should have their own action figure. Everyone should have their own action figure. 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 mean, they tend to look a little better than the person actually. So me having a bald head, I'm sure it's going to be nice and smooth and shiny, nice and shiny bald head. That'll be fun. But I haven't seen it yet. I mean, I have to ask, what is the heart and soul of this character? What makes him tick? Well, you know, he's a pragmatist. He's very logical, but he basically, it's the mission. The mission is what drives him. I mean, he does have doubts about things 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 the stakes are raised. We have a time element. We have to get off the planet in a matter of hours, otherwise we'll all die from the heat. The hailing gets past the excess of 300, 400 degrees and we're talking about death immediately. So honestly, Locke is the kind of guy that would give his life for the mission and for his colleagues. He would die for them and he would die for the mission. And that's something you just don't see very often nowadays. That's something that I like about him because that's not me. I would not die for the mission. So I like acting and doing things that are completely out of the box for me. 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 on approaching all the work the same. You know, I'm kind of colorblind in a sense. Even in America in 2014 people go, colorblind? How can you be? It's pretty hard still. But I just look at the work as 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, then what they'll happen to have is a black guy who has a bald head, who's six foot three. And all these things will just be a happenstance or just randomness. But when I read it, I felt like I've come across Carousel and I felt like it could go any color. But you know, there's something innate about it. There's something as a quality about it. There's something you can't put your finger on. Whatever it was, they saw that with me. And 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 because 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 just picked up a joystick at the 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 as they were building the game. And I got to experience it on a really intense level, you know, 3D with huge speakers and stuff. And 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, all this technology. And you're just basically creating, you know, a game. And I just look forward to seeing the finished product. And I hope everybody is pleased with it. It will be out in November. And 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.
 On November 11th, Halo fans will be taken back to the edge of the galaxy and beyond
 in Halo Nightfall, a live-action digital series produced by none other than legendary sci-fi
 director Ridley Scott.
 The series will star the newly minted Spartan soldier Agent Jameson Locke.
 Locke 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 Colter, who you may have seen in Men in Black 3 and The Good
 Wife, 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've never seen his face.
 The Arbiter, we 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 part of that?
 What appealed to me about the project was that they were approaching it from 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 appealing.
 You get to create a character who has the nuances of all the richness of a human quality
 that you can put into the game.
 And so hopefully the fans and the gamers will connect to that and then they will, I guess,
 have a better gaming experience because of it.
 We'll start with the show first.
 I mean, you're working with Ridley Scott, executive producer.
 What's it like working with him?
 Is he hands on or?
 You know, it's funny because his production company is called Scott Free and I think it
 really does relate to how he approaches it.
 I mean, it is Scott Free.
 I mean, he does keep his finger on the pulse.
 He's very involved as far as the creative aspect of it.
 When you're in a Scott Free production, you can tell.
 I mean, the quality, there's a lot of nuances to the film.
 I think people are going to appreciate it.
 I think you'll see a little Blade Runner feel to it.
 You'll see a little alien feel to it.
 Predator, I mean, it has a little bit of all of those things kind of combined visually.
 When I first saw some of the Daily Rushes, I looked at it and I thought, wow, this reminds
 me of Children of Men, which cinematically, I really thought that was kind of cool.
 So it looks, you know, looks chick ass.
 As far as the game is concerned, I mean, you said motion capture and 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 when that's going on because I don't want anybody
 to see me walking around in 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 meticulous and it's a tedious process.
 We did the scanning for my facial imagery.
 We did that for about three hours.
 I mean, I'd say about 30, 40 cameras positioned just so, so they're not missing anything.
 You sit there and you make every facial expression known to man.
 What's the wildest expression that you had to make in that process?
 I think it was something like, oh, well, there's an expression I couldn't do, like you had
 to flare your nostrils.
 I can't flare my nostrils.
 I was like, you want me to flare my nostrils?
 I'm like, 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 open your mouth as wide as you can.
 Yeah, I'm not going to do that now, but yeah, you open your mouth as wide as you can for
 some reason.
 So then they'll use that and there'll be certain scenes, obviously, certain levels of the game
 and where my character will be interacting with another character as an actor, but I
 have to first do the technical aspect.
 So yeah, I'm pretty psyched about that, having my face in a video game like that and having
 my own action figure.
 That's also something that's appealing.
 Everyone should have their own action figure.
 Everyone should have their own action figure.
 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 mean, they tend to look a little better than the person actually.
 So me having a bald head, I'm sure it's going to be nice and smooth and shiny, nice and
 shiny bald head.
 That'll be fun.
 But I haven't seen it yet.
 I mean, I have to ask, what is the heart and soul of this character?
 What makes him tick?
 Well, you know, he's a pragmatist.
 He's very logical, but he basically, it's the mission.
 The mission is what drives him.
 I mean, he does have doubts about things 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 the stakes are raised.
 We have a time element.
 We have to get off the planet in a matter of hours, otherwise we'll all die from the
 heat.
 The hailing gets past the excess of 300, 400 degrees and we're talking about death immediately.
 So honestly, Locke is the kind of guy that would give his life for the mission and for
 his colleagues.
 He would die for them and he would die for the mission.
 And that's something you just don't see very often nowadays.
 That's something that I like about him because that's not me.
 I would not die for the mission.
 So I like acting and doing things that are completely out of the box for me.
 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 on approaching all the work the same.
 You know, I'm kind of colorblind in a sense.
 Even in America in 2014 people go, colorblind?
 How can you be?
 It's pretty hard still.
 But I just look at the work as 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, then what
 they'll happen to have is a black guy who has a bald head, who's six foot three.
 And all these things will just be a happenstance or just randomness.
 But when I read it, I felt like I've come across Carousel and I felt like it could go
 any color.
 But you know, there's something innate about it.
 There's something as a quality about it.
 There's something you can't put your finger on.
 Whatever it was, they saw that with me.
 And 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 because 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 just picked up a joystick at the 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 as they were building the
 game.
 And I got to experience it on a really intense level, you know, 3D with huge speakers and
 stuff.
 And 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, all this technology.
 And you're just basically creating, you know, a game.
 And I just look forward to seeing the finished product.
 And I hope everybody is pleased with it.
 It will be out in November.
 And 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.