Halo TV Interview: Riz Actress Natasha Culzac Talks About Preparing to Become a Spartan

The first season of Halo is finally set to come to an end this week when the season finale makes its arrival on Paramount+. Based on how the previous episode ended, the finale seems poised to be quite explosive as a number of major plot threads are beginning to converge at once which has set the stage for a huge battle with the UNSC and Covenant. 

Prior to the finale airing, we were able to catch up with Natasha Culzac who plays the Spartan Riz-028 in Halo. Culzac chatted with us about what it was like to prepare for Halo, her own familiarity with the video game franchise, and also teased us about what the season finale could have in store. 

Familiarity With Halo

CB: A common thing we’ve been asking a lot of the cast members of Halo has just been related to their own personal history with the series. Are you someone who played any of the video games in the past? 

NC: Yeah, in terms of Halo, I was aware of the game Halo for some years because I’ve had friends and family, an ex-boyfriend actually, who was a big Halo fan and also an actor at the time. So when I got this audition, he kind of lost his mind a little bit. So I was aware of the franchise and when I went for the audition, I delved a bit deeper into the lore and did a hell of a lot more research. And when I got the role, I played the games, I bought a couple of the graphic novels and then kind of went in even deeper still.

CB: Do you have a favorite entry in the series out of the ones you’ve played? And have you played every mainline Halo game?

NC: No, I didn’t have that amount of time. I had to prepare so much, so I just played Combat Evolved. Well, I started playing Combat Evolved. But my main priority was getting fit, I think, because I wasn’t fit.

Discovering Riz

CB: Riz is a character that 343 Industries had internally outlined before Halo ended up becoming a TV series, so there was a little bit of background information and lore for your role. How much of that deeper history associated with Riz were you shown before filming?

NC: Yeah, we did a boot camp actually. So we flew to Budapest for a week, a month before shooting for a boot camp that involved a lot for the Spartans specifically. It was lots of military tactics and sort of learning the guns and experimenting and all that kind of stuff. But it was also a kind of Halo bootcamp to get a grip with the lore. And they gave us some materials there that talked about us as Spartans and our individual characters. So I kind of got a little bit of a sense of Riz’s background, which was amazing. 

But going forward, I kind of leaned on the script and my hunches as the actor, sort of trying to sense Riz’s personality and how she fits into this dynamic with the Silver Team. So really for me, I came to the conclusion that she was basically like the little sister, primarily because I’m the shortest Spartan, and I’m never the short person anywhere I go. And so it’s a bit discombobulating for me to be the short one.

What I could kind of get, and maybe what I saw in her a little bit was this kind of need — I’m a younger sibling, so maybe it’s me kind of projecting — in her and some of the text and some of the dialogue where there might be a little bit of a complex, a little bit of a need to impress, a need to prove herself as the youngest sibling. And it’s so interesting as well because obviously, Spartans are so highly intelligent, they are very equipped physically and mentally. She’s a warm machine, so I kind of found it a bit interesting that there could be that ever so slight kind of nuance there where she maybe doesn’t feel as good as the rest. 

Getting Fit to Play a Spartan

CB: You mentioned before that getting into shape was the main focus for you before filming began. The armor that you’re wearing on-screen looks awesome, but I imagine it’s very cumbersome to get around. Can you talk to me about the process of wearing that armor all day while filming?

NC: So it was challenging. I mean, mine was half my body weight, so that was a big old challenge really in learning to be quite calm, I guess, in quite a claustrophobic environment with that suit on. It’s so tight and it’s so heavy and hot. And then with the helmet on as well, which was extremely claustrophobic and hot, I had to learn how to breathe properly in that situation.

Getting so physically fit and able enough to be able to wear that costume for hours on end, which I have to say, as much as I sit here and say how difficult it was, was nothing compared to what the stunts had to do. The stunt team was incredible. They were in those suits and then some, doing action sequences, fight sequences in these suits that are quite difficult. They’re not particularly malleable and then they just did it with such dexterity. Yeah, they were phenomenal. 

Filming the Bombastic Fight Scenes

CB: You have been involved in some of the biggest fight sequences in Halo so far, namely the battles in Episode 1 and Episode 5. What was it like to shoot those scenes? I imagine it was quite complex given the mix between CGI and practical effects that have been used in the series. 

NC: I mean, as you can see, the production values are massive and really intricate, so everything was on a grand scale. Say for the battle in episode five, it was this huge quarry that we were in on location and it was fun. We’d sit there and watch everything. They’d be like, “Right, everyone quiet.” And then these incredibly massive explosions start happening around you and stunt people on wires are being flung across the quarry and it’s awesome. And being part of that, you’re kind of like, “Wow.” You feel quite small in that moment because you’re like, “Well, I’m just part of this, this cog here in this incredible machine where,” so the crew is doing such a fantastic job of making sure everybody’s safe and a decent distance from where the pyrotechnics are happening. And just being able to watch it is phenomenal.

CB: We talked to Bookeem Woodbine, one of your co-stars on Halo, about the battle sequences as well. He told us that it felt great to be working on a show where it was clear that no expense was being spared when it came to the fight scenes. Did you feel the same way?

NC: I think that’s it. They made a conscious effort to try and do as much in real life and have as many practical effects, in terms of the costumes and the props and have as much that we could work with as possible. And same with sets, it’s like everything was built, so we didn’t have to pretend a lot was there, which is great for us because it was just there. It was amazing.

Riz’s Decision in Episode 8

CB: So we’re chatting before the season finale of Halo and I wanted to pick your brain about where Riz is currently at. When Episode 8 ends, Silver Team is in an all-out battle with one another and Riz, in particular, is put in a tough spot with a decision to make. How do you personally interpret what’s going on in her head at the end of the episode?

NC: I think right now at the end of episode eight, what’s going through Riz’s head is there was hesitancy. I don’t know if you saw that with Vannak saying, “Take the shot.” I think Riz is extremely loyal as are all the Spartans, actually. They’re her family and I guess that was an interesting thing to kind of balance as well, was this family that you’ve got and this intense relationship that they all have with one another because they’ve gone through such a traumatic event, which is their lives. And sort of being stolen and augmented and everything, but then balancing that with doing what needs to be done, and taking orders and the mission.

So I guess that’s what’s going through her mind at the moment. And she’s still got her pellet in. So kind of seeing Kai’s change, noticing that there’s a change and not being quite sure what to do in that moment. And I’ve found that interesting as the actor, trying to delve into that. She’s still got the pellet in, but there’s this emotion that’s bubbling underneath that I guess she doesn’t quite understand yet.

Season Finale Tease

CB: Obviously, you cannot say anything specific about the season finale of Halo and how things are going to wrap up, but what should fans prepare for? How is this upcoming episode going to leave them feeling? 

NC: I think they will feel very… it’s a treat, I think. Yeah, it’s another explosive episode. That’s all I’m going to say.

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The first season of Halo is streaming now exclusively on Paramount+. The upcoming ninth episode, which is the season finale, will land on the streaming platform this week on Thursday, May 19th.