In the late 1990s and early 2000s, both Tom Cruise and Julia Roberts were at the height of their fame and power. Cruise had been on box office hits like “Jerry Maguire” and “Mission: Impossible,” while Roberts was riding high following success in “Notting Hill,” “Runaway Bride,” and “Erin Brockovich.”
That time period also coincides with the launch of Microsoft’s “Halo” franchise, with the first game debuting in 2001 before the record-breaking sequel arrived in 2004. So it may not be all that surprising that there was a chance that both Cruise and Roberts could have been cast to play the two main characters in “Halo 2,” replacing the original voice actors.
Voice Actor Says ‘Halo’ Studio Bungie Wanted to Replace Original Talent
In a recent interview with Game Informer, some of the key people involved with the video game series revealed some interesting information about the possible voice cast for “Halo 2.”
Following the popularity of “Halo: CE,” which had set a new standard for first-person shooters on home consoles, there was a lot of anticipation for the 2004 sequel. This had even spread to Hollywood.
According to Master Chief voice actor Steve Downes, the developer behind the game was pushing to have himself and Cortana voice actor Jen Taylor replaced. “There was no reach out from [Bungie],” he says. “In fact, as we found out later, they had every intention of replacing us with famous people.”
He continued, “I don’t know if this part’s true, but it makes for a fun story that Tom Cruise was considered as the guy who would voice Master Chief. They were going to replace both of us – well, they were certainly going to replace me.”
Composer & Audio Lead Martin O’Donnell Confirms Conversation With Hollywood Agent
In the same article, the outlet also spoke to former Bungie composer and audio lead Martin O’Donnell. He confirmed that he was approached by a talent agency while in Hollywood, who suggested that his clients — which includes Cruise and Roberts — should be included in the game given its high profile.
“Microsoft had sort of shipped me out to Hollywood shindigs and parties, and they saw that there was a lot of anticipation for Halo 2,” O’Donnell says. “I’d be in Hollywood, and I had already been interested in, like, ‘Well, maybe I can start casting some actors who are…’ I wanted actors who liked games and were already fans of this new game called Halo. I didn’t want to get actors who were just looking for a big payday, because there was no big payday.”
He further explained, “One of the guys came up to me at one of these parties and puts his arm around me. Marty, you know, it’s time! This is a big deal. You’re in the big times now. You’ve gotta step everything up. We represent Julia Roberts and Tom Cruise.'”
“Now, Tom Cruise was already a Bungie fan, believe it or not; he had played Myth, so this wasn’t the first time we’d heard about Tom Cruise,” O’Donnell added. “It was this guy basically saying, ‘We should make this deal to get Tom Cruise to be Master Chief, and Julia Roberts to be Cortana in Halo 2.'”
O’Donnell subsequently revealed that he dismissed the idea quickly because he knew fans already had a relationship with the original voice actors.
“I knew that would have ruined everything,” he said. “The fans would never had accepted – because I know game fans are not necessarily blown away by big stars, they’re blown away by solid gameplay and emotionally compelling stories. There was no way that I could replace Jen Taylor and Steve Downes, because the fans already had a relationship with those voices, because they were Master Chief and Cortana. I just could not think of replacing that.”
