Pablo Schreiber wants to disappear into every role. I remember seeing him on Netflix’s Orange is the New Black and being desperate to find out who he was, but then he was unrecognizable when he popped up in American Gods. And then First Man and Defending Jacob. It’s so gratifying to see an actor extend themselves so much. With Schreiber’s latest two projects, Halo and Candy, the actor proves, once again, that is a force to be reckoned with. “I love exploring all the facets of humanity. I want to stretch myself in as many odd directions as possible,” he says.
Halo required a lot from Schreiber both emotionally and physically, but I don’t think I would have the guts to star in an adaptation of a beloved video game. Every single person will be vocal about their opinion of the show, but Schreiber couldn’t dwell on that.
“Maybe I was naïve going in, but I wasn’t nervous about it. Now that the season is out, I can appreciate more how large the fanbase is. And there are a ton of opinions about this show–I welcome that. My biggest takeaway is still the one I came in with. I was so thrilled to be a part of something with such a huge IP. There is so much engagement with Halo. My job is to elevate everything and everyone around me.”
Episode eight had a strong reaction because it showed Schreiber’s character, Master Chief, having sex and tapping into a more vulnerable side that is an interesting dynamic to see amid all the fighting and war. We don’t get a lot of strong male characters exploring sensitivity without a vocal response, and Schreiber believes that it’s the testament to the mission of the show.
“The goal is to start a conversation between Master Chief, the soldier, and John, the human. Like any human being, there are complexities and vulnerabilities, but you just don’t see it in the game since he’s in combat situations. The character is created to be an avatar of you, and it doesn’t fill in the personality. It creates a lot of cognitive dissonance for the player who only knows the character as an avatar that they control that is purposely left blank. You can fill it in with your personalities. We knew it was going to create that dialogue. The element of the first season is getting through that so it leads the audience into a different relationship than the audience expected.”
In Hulu’s Candy, Schreiber plays Alan Gore, a meek man who quite literally runs away from conflict and emotion. Seeing him embody the real life man is jarring if you watch the ripped, muscled version of Schreiber in Halo immediately prior to checking out the true crime limited series. Exploring Gore’s psyche was a challenge that Schreiber was interested in tackling between seasons of the Paramount+ hit.
“That was one of the reasons why I wanted to take the job. I had been working on Halo for nearly two years, and it fit perfectly in with my hiatus. I wanted to do something very different. Where Halo is an examination of heroism through John, my role felt like, for me, examining the opposite. It’s an exploration of cowardice. He is a man who cannot stand up for anything, and he has no access for larger tools for his emotions. He wants to placate. In episode five, he commits the ultimate betrayal when he testifies in Candy’s defense.”
As Master Chief, Schreiber is a hulking presence, but his role in Candy required him to lose all that muscle. Schreiber explains how he quite literally wanted to allow Gore to disappear.
“I’m naturally a thinner guy. I had to create and hold onto the muscle that Halo requires and have that presence, and to manipulate the costumes on top of that is another layer. That is a crazy amount of working out and consuming way too many calories. For Candy, I had to consider how much time I had to lose the weight, but I didn’t know how much time I had to get it back. I had a chat with Robin Veith to tell her how I connected with him. I assured her that she wouldn’t see the same guy. When I lost all the weight for Halo, I wanted to physically disappear into everything: the sets and the costumes. He’s a character who isn’t comfortable in his own skin. He wants to fade.”
Halo is streaming on Paramount+ and Candy is streaming on Hulu.
