Shabana Azmi is not new to the world of international cinema. After having worked on a number of globally acclaimed projects from the early days of her career, the veteran actor will now be seen playing the pivotal role of Admiral Margaret Parangosky, the director of the Office of Naval Intelligence in Halo. Based on the popular video game franchise, Halo, and its extended universe, the series — that is executive-produced by film-maker Steven Spielberg — focuses on an epic 26th-century conflict between humanity and an alien threat known as the Covenant.
With Halo premiering globally today (viewers in India can stream it on Voot Select as a weekly episodic release), Shabana Azmi chatted with The Telegraph on an early morning video call from the US recently on the challenges and highs of being a part of Halo and beyond.
When we had spoken last year, you had told me that Halo is technically a completely different experience for you, given that quite a bit of your performance had to be enacted in front of a green screen. What were the biggest challenges of this shoot and how has this experience further enhanced your skills as an actor?
I wouldn’t say that most of it was in front of a green screen. But yes, some crucial parts definitely were. The experience was very different because Halo is based on such a well-known video game. People who are already familiar with the game had their own concept about how this character (Admiral Margaret Parangosky) is. I had to work towards ensuring that the series works on its own, as a standalone series.
Obviously, there will be a huge baggage of expectations because there is an entire Halo universe, and fans love the game and have lots of conceived notions of it. But I had to be honest and truthful to whatever material was given. It was a very exciting and a very challenging experience because it was quite out of my league, and something that I had not done before. Anything that is new is always challenging. I hope I have lived up to the challenge.
I had a near fatal car accident in January 2020 and within about 21 days, I was back in Budapest shooting for Halo. I realised that I hadn’t quite got my balance right even then and I had to wear very high-heeled boots for the shoot. But then the adrenaline rush is what helps an actor through difficult times, and that is what came to my rescue.
We were working through Covid and because of that, there was the challenge of working within the bubble and not meeting your co-actors outside the set even though they were in the same building as me. So living on my own in a different city and a different country and then there are these constraints on you, they obviously add to the whole experience. And it’s really up to you to see it as whether the glass is half full or half empty. And because I am an eternal optimist, I felt grateful that when the whole world had all but stopped, I was still getting this chance, and so I worked through it with extra zeal.
How was it working on your character in isolation?
I didn’t really spend all my time alone. I had a nurse with me and also a friend because Javed Akhtar (husband) wouldn’t allow me to go alone. Even without the specifics of how I worked on the character, I would say that I shot Halo during a very challenging time of adjusting with life. And that always impacts the work that you are doing. Because I took this up as a challenge that I didn’t want to falter in, I enjoyed the process of playing the character. Otherwise, it could have been difficult.
Admiral Margaret Parangosky is an authoritative figure who is used to living by the rules. She almost gets seduced into breaking them by Natascha (McElhone, who plays Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey) who convinces her that it’s for the good of humankind. And although she gets seduced by that, she is also constantly conflicted that this is probably not the right thing. That became the central core of the character. That was the thing that I had to work most on.... Of course, the hair, make-up and costume helped build the character.
I wasn’t aware of either the game or the character. And so I was working through an imaginary world and I didn’t want to really cloud myself with too many expectations of the Halo universe.
Shabana Azmi as Admiral Margaret Parangosky in Halo, streaming on Voot Select from today
In the last 40 years, this is your 20th international project. You were one of the first few from here to be exposed to the Hollywood culture of auditions, agents, aggressive promotions, workshops.... How much has it changed from then to now?
Actually it’s changed so much back home in India that one has become much more familiar with it. Although we are 10 years behind and still in the catching-up period. The way we are filming in India, having ADs (assistant directors) and how the whole thing works, all that has become a much more familiar scene.
When I did Madame Sousatzka way back in the ’80s, I didn’t have to do an audition. I was just made to fly to London and meet John Schlesinger, the director. After that, increasingly, it became about giving auditions. In the beginning, I was appalled and was like, ‘I have this background of work... what do you mean by asking me to audition?!’ (Laughs) But then, I realised that I was being foolish, because that’s their system. And then, Shirley MacLaine (who played Madame Sousatzka) shared with me that she flew all the way from Los Angeles to New York dressed as Sousatzka to convince John Schlesinger to take her. And she cracked it.
Now, it’s become very commonplace to give auditions. There is, in fact, no taam-jhaam... you can even send an audition recorded on your mobile phone. Sometimes you get accepted and sometimes not, and it’s all part of the game.
What surprised me about Halo was that I wasn’t even aware that my agent was in talks with the producers. They had just watched some of my Hindi films and on the basis of that, I got confirmed for the role. And it was only after I was confirmed, I had a very long FaceTime call with the director Otto Bathurst, whose work I really loved in Black Mirror and in Peaky Blinders. He started talking to me in a language that I just did not understand! (Laughs) And so, I brought all my acting talent to the fore, making it seem as if I was understanding every single word. I was acting away as if I knew everything about it! (Laughs)
Then I went back and started reading some books that had been sent to me by the studio. That I understood even less! (Laughs). And then I told myself that there is no point of me trying to understand it... I should just go and surrender myself. And I think it was in the surrendering that I finally started enjoying what I was doing.
It’s so multi-ethnic and multi-national now. The set is now a microcosm of the world because you have Koreans, British, Japanese, Canadians, Hungarians... you have everyone. So now, it’s become less special to be from a world that’s not commonly known to them. There is also a lot of respect for people coming in from different countries. We are no longer looked at as some strange animals in the zoo (smiles).
When I first worked on Madame Sousatzka, in the original novel by Bernice Rubens, she (Sushila Sen, her character) is a Jewish mother. I asked John Schlesinger why he made that change, and he said that Indians and Asians had become so much a part of the British fabric — this I am talking about 1988-89 — that it is only natural that they should be more visible on our screens. That was sensitive of him, but it took a long time coming.
The latest film that I have done with Shekhar Kapur, called What’s Love Got to Do With It?, which also stars Emma Thompson and is written by Jemima Khan, there is equal weightage for the Asian family and the English family. That’s how it’s developing, and it’s so healthy to be working in an inclusive world where everyone is represented, irrespective of their ethnicity.
Admiral Margaret Parangosky is an authoritative figure who is used to living by the rules. She almost gets seduced into breaking them by Natascha (McElhone, who plays Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey) who convinces her that it’s for the good of humankind. And although she gets seduced by that, she is also constantly conflicted that this is probably not the right thing. That became the central core of the character. That was the thing that I had to work most on
Coming back to Halo, what went into playing Margaret Parangosky?
It may be a very immodest thing to say, but over the years, I am looked upon as someone who has some authority (smiles). That’s now getting translated into the roles that I am now playing. Esan Dawlat, that I recently portrayed in The Empire, is quite an authoritative figure. As an actor, you lend yourself to all these worlds and the people that you are inhabiting for the first time, and they then become a part of your personality. That’s what happened with Margaret Parangosky. When the external factors — in this case the pandemic — is against you, then you learn to focus more on your character. In fact, right after I shot this, I went ahead and shot for What’s Love Got to Do With It? right during the peak of the pandemic. My family was sure I would come back infected in three days, but we actually wrapped up the film in 48 days flat.
Your co-star Pablo Schreiber has said he never played the game before and you have also confessed your zero understanding of the Halo universe. Just out of sheer curiosity, did you go back and try your hand at the game after you wrapped up the series? I also believe you participated in a boot camp before the shoot. What was that like?
Well, the boot camp was really helpful because we were made familiar with the characters. There were readings and there were also clear protocols established about how one can can or cannot behave, what will be taken as racial discrimination, how you are not supposed to not do anything that can be looked on as a lewd gesture towards a woman... all of that. It was very, very strict. And that’s very good because everyone is on the same page.
It’s so multi-ethnic and multi-national now. The set is now a microcosm of the world because you have Koreans, British, Japanese, Canadians, Hungarians... you have everyone. So now, it’s become less special to be from a world that’s not commonly known to them. There is also a lot of respect for people coming in from different countries
As far as the second part of the question is concerned, can I tell you a secret? After the last day of the shoot of Halo, I asked the director, ‘Now that we have finished shooting, can you please tell me what the story was?’ (Laughs out loud) And he was like, ‘Come on, you have done a really good job of convincing us that you did understand!’ And I was like, ‘That’s the actor in me!’ I only understand the Halo universe at the level of the story and that’s finally important. Yes, all the Halo fans want it to be like the game, but for everyone else, one needs to retain all the elements and also keep the story engaging.