If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy.

Bungie originally wanted Halo to cast Dame Judi Dench for role of Dr. Catherine Hasley

Xbox's wildly popular first-person shooter game Halo sought an eight-time Academy Award nominee to portray the scientist who masterminded Master Chief and his fellow Spartans.

Halo Masterchief — Image credit: Microsoft

News by Joseph Pete, Contributing Writer

Published on Tue Aug 19 2025

Popverse's top stories

Marvel TV, DC K.O. an Agents of SHIELD reunion, and a new Game of Thrones show head up New York Comic Con 2025's loaded panel schedule
Simon Kinberg on writing X-Men movies, producing Glenn Powell's The Running Man remake, and co-creating Star Wars Rebels [Popversations]
Why the new King of the Hill episode 'No Hank Left Behind' is the most important episode of the entire show

Dr. Catherine Hasley emerged as one of the most iconic characters in the Halo franchise, developing the SPARTAN-II program, the Spartans’ signature powered assault armor, and the Cortana AI.

The scientist called the Spartans her greatest achievement, but also was wracked with profound guilt by creating genetically and technologically augmented super-soldiers like Master Chief, reflecting that “Spartans never die? If only that were true.”

Voice actress Jen Taylor, who also stars as Cortana on the hit video game series, voices Hasley in the Halo games.

But Taylor isn’t who Microsoft, Xbox, and Bungie originally had in mind for the role. They aimed to land one of the most celebrated living Hollywood actresses.

“Originally, they wanted Judi Dench to play the role of Hasley,” Taylor says at Fan Expo Chicago.

Dench is about as prestigious as actresses get, having appeared in everything from Shakespeare to Miramax films to Merchant Ivory Productions to James Bond movies. The eight-time Academy Award nominee’s crammed awards cabinet is overflowing with an Oscar, a Tony, two Golden Globes, and a staggering 10 BAFTA awards.

Dench did not sign on.

“They couldn’t make that happen. So they settled for me,” Taylor said, laughing. “I’ll take it, a second [role]. I’ll take that one.”

Hasley was portrayed on the short-lived Paramount+ Halo show by not Dench but another English actress, Natascha McElhone, whose many credits include Solaris, Californication, and The Crown.

But for many gamers, Taylor owns the role.

An audience member asked how she made Cortana and Hasley feel like such different characters.

“I wanted them to be shades of the same character, right? Because they’re all shades of Hasley really,” Taylor says at Fan Expo Chicago. “But I played Cortana first.”

Taylor took steps to make the characters sound unique and individual.

“There are things I physically do, even if she had a lower register and a different approach to the world, which is going to sound funny but I’m thinking character when I’m coming up with a voice,” she says. “How does she put on her work boots in the morning? How is it different from how Cortana puts her boots on, which she doesn’t have. What a difference it is. So it was a lot about that.”

She won't reveal all her secrets though.

"I have little tricky actor things I'm not going to give away," she says. "But it is mostly about character that I focus on."

Halo is expected to release the next installment as soon as next year, which will mark the 25th anniversary of the release of Halo: Combat Evolved.

The gaming industry has come a long way since Pong blew all our minds in the 70s. We've got everything you need to know about the next big thing in games. Of course, Grand Theft Auto VI is going to be the big game of 2026, but there are plenty of other games coming out between now and then. Here is our starter guide for every gamer: