Shabana Azmi to work with Spielberg

Veteran actress Shabana Azmi has signed Steven Spielberg’s nine-part web-series Halo, which will be directed by Otto Bathurst who helmed the Netflix series Black Mirror.

Halo is one of the most popular video game franchises in the world, having sold more than 77 million copies since its initial release in 2001. The series comes from Showtime, Amblin Television and Microsoft. Halo, which Showtime has described as its ‘most ambitious series ever’, is set to begin production in Budapest in the fall.

Apart from Shabana, Natascha McElhone, Bokeem Woodbine, Bentley Kalu, Natasha Culzac and Kate Kennedy have taken on the project. Pablo Schreiber plays the iconic Master Chief role. McElhone will play Cortana, the most advanced AI in human history who may be the key to the survival of the human race.

Meanwhile, Shabana will play Admiral Margaret Parangosky, the head of the Office of Naval Intelligence.

Says a discernibly pleased Shabana, “It can’t get bigger than this! Asian actors have been fighting for colour blind casting for years. Finally, it’s become a reality. This is completely new territory for me. I’m both excited and nervous, which is a good place to be in.”