Halo season 2 has been quite the journey for series newcomer James Ackerson, played by actor Joseph Morgan. As the new boss of the Spartan Program, Ackerson is disliked by Halo's Silver Team and frequently brushes shoulders with Master Chief to exert his newfound authority. It also quickly becomes apparent that he is highly skilled at manipulation. Yet, there's also a deeper, more emotional side to Ackerson as a complex antagonist, a feat Morgan is well-known for portraying in previous works like Klaus in The Originals. By the end of Halo season 2's finale, Ackerson seems to have undergone something of a character evolution, helping Soren and his family and showing genuine care for the safety of his Spartan-IIIs.

Game ZXC recently sat down with Morgan to discuss Halo season 2's final episode. Morgan also went into depth about how Ackerson has evolved throughout the series and spoke about what he hopes to see with the character next, hypothetically speaking. The following transcript has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Halo Season 2 Interview
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Joseph Morgan on Halo Season 2 Finale and Joining The Cast

Q: Congrats, I'm sure it's exciting to have the season two finale out now. To kick things off, I was wondering how you feel about James Ackerson’s story trajectory so far given the events of the finale?

A: Well, I feel like there's one story that's told through episodes one through seven and then the finale kind of spins it off in a different direction, but I loved it. I love the direction it took in the finale. Ackerson ending up in prison and then having to break out with Soren, I think was a wicked twist. And of course, bringing in The Flood is incredibly exciting.

Yeah, I know everyone's excited to see the direction that The Flood takes.

Oh, yeah. Me included.

Q: James Ackerson debuted in season two. What was it like joining and working with the cast as a newcomer on the show?

A: It was great. You know, of course, it's like an incredibly talented group of individuals. I was a Halo fan before I joined the show, before they started the show. The good thing is that almost all of the characters don't know Ackerson before he comes into that world. So for me, I could kind of use the reality and echo that in the art. I was on another show called Titans previous to Halo. I had about three days off in between.

I joined Halo, and I was busy filming Titan still. I came on set and the first scene I filmed was the first scene that Ackerson has in the show. I could take some of that sort of feeling of “Who's this new actor?” on one plateau and use that for my character who was coming along also, trying to create a good impression and to be confident and walk into that. It was kind of fitting.

James Ackerson's Character Evolution And Interactions

halo season 2 james ackerson with catherine halsey

Q: Throughout the show, obviously Ackerson evolves quite a bit. What was it like demonstrating that range and all these dimensions to such a long-lored and historied character?

A: It was pretty great. You know, that's what attracted me to the character in the first place was the opportunity there was for emotional exploration. I also feel like Ackerson takes kind of a different tack with different characters, so there was an opportunity there to explore different sides of him that we see. I enjoyed it immensely, and then, of course, there's the revelation he has that things aren't quite what they seem, that he's being made a scapegoat, that he's kind of been played, and that he hasn't known the whole truth. I think that was interesting as well because it allowed me to show some vulnerability and insecurity in the character that had previously been hidden. There was a whole range of stuff there to explore, and I relished in it.

Q: Yeah, for sure. And some of it's quite relatable, right? Like the scenes with his dad. Could you talk a little bit about those?

A: Yeah, those were my favorite scenes, by the way.

Well, I thought they were imperative because they gave us a glimpse of Ackerson at his most honest, I think, because he's with someone that he cares deeply about - his father. I think we saw Ackerson with as many walls down as probably we’ll ever see. That, to me, was very important because I wanted the audience to connect with him. I wanted to find some kind of relatable quality and I thought of him caring for his unwell father who's suffering from dementia. I thought that's a very difficult situation, obviously, for the character emotionally and also something that might make people start to feel for him. They might understand the struggle he's going through in his personal life, so I think that's important, especially when you're playing a character who potentially could be painted as a villain.

halo season 2 james ackerson with father

Q: You mentioned earlier that Ackerson kind of approaches every character differently. Could you expand on that? How do you think Ackerson treats everyone differently?

A: I think Ackerson comes in with an agenda. He knows what he's doing is for the greater good of humanity, and he truly believes that he is the Saviour of mankind, that he is going to forge their path through this war with the Covenant. But in order to do that, everybody needs to get on board, so he manipulates his way through the whole thing, trying to bend people to his will, to get them to fall in line. Different people require different versions of that. I think, with Halsey, it's a battle of wits. I think, John, he needs to be very assertive with Master Chief and certainly to pull rank and to show him who's boss. And then I think with Kai, he needs to appeal to her sense of honor and also to her vanity, you know. He looks for those chinks in the armor that he can expose and take advantage of.

Q: Do you think the finale will change that?

A: Oh, yeah. I think that Reach changed it as well. I think that the experience he went through on Reach with sacrificing those people and then finding out about the plans that Parangosky had for the Spartan-IIIs. I think that changed everything for him. It sort of turned his worldview on its head, so I feel like going into a potential season three, he'll be a very different person. He's coming from a different place. He's a person who's lost everything.

halo season 2 james ackerson with Parangosky

Joseph Morgan on Ackerson in a Hypothetical Halo Season 3

Right. Yeah. And of course, just speaking on that sort of hypothetical. Based on everything that's happened this season, based on the finale, what would you personally hope is next for Ackerson?

A: I would hope that I think Ackerson needs some kind of redemption arc. He turned things around a little bit, but I feel like he's a guy now, like I said, who's lost everything. I think he needs to be in the trenches with The Flood. He needs to prove himself; he needs to fight his way out of this. I think he's a man who craves power still and authority, and I think he's going to need to fight to earn that again. I would love to see him put some of that military training to use, and I would love to see him in terrifying situations, forced to ally himself with people who were his enemies. I think that will create an interesting conflict.

halo-paragonsky
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Q: Ackerson has a storied history in the graphic novels. Do you think there were any major changes to his character in the show that his comic counterpart wouldn't really do?

A: I feel like, in general, his comic counterpart was perhaps a little - we saw a little less of the vulnerabilities there. Although, you know, there was that stuff with his brother and the Key of the Osanalan, which I thought was so relatable and kind of cool. But in general, I feel like we've stayed true to the character. Maybe I've taken a few liberties, but I feel like, in general, it's the ballpark.

halo season 2 james ackerson played by joseph morgan

A: Do you think any of your previous roles have really helped you nail Ackerson and help inform what you've done with this character?

A: Yeah, I think so. I think some of the early stuff did. I did an Oliver Stone movie, Alexander, years back now, and we did a military bootcamp in the desert. I had to learn the phalanx formation and then train soldiers in it and lead men into a battlefield in phalanx formation. With things like that. I think that experience of military tactics and things certainly informed playing the role.

And then of course, my work on The Originals. I feel like playing a character who is to a certain degree manipulative, like Klaus was, helped as well. From a technical point of view, just the thousands of hours that I've spent on set as well helped with the pressure of production this big. I think that certainly helps you become very familiar with the language of camera and camera technique, that kind of thing.

[END]