Halo's Cortana Actors Are Gorgeous In Real Life
"Halo Infinite" excited fans for a variety of reasons, like the long gap in games since "Halo 5" and the extensive in-game customization. Marketing for "Infinite" also hinted at a story that could push the game to the upper half of rankings between worst and best "Halo" games. In "Infinite," Master Chief returns in a promising new campaign to find his missing AI partner, Cortana.
Cortana has stayed with fans throughout it all — until now. Her absence is a change of pace, considering Cortana has appeared in almost every Halo game and television appearance since the series' inception. Sometimes, she would even appear without Master Chief. In fact, she's mostly just a voice, instead of a person like her partner. What fans might not realize is that the voice actresses behind the iconic AI are just as screen worthy as their character.
Here's what Cortana's voice actresses look like in real life, and what they do besides voice Master Chief's most faithful companion.
Jen Taylor, All Halo Games
Jen Taylor probably comes to mind for most people when they think of Cortana. She has played Master Chief's voice assistant since the beginning, from "Halo: Combat Evolved" until "Halo Infinite." Taylor even plays Dr. Halsey, the person who created and used herself as a model for Cortana in Halo lore. Her voice is so iconic to the franchise that Showtime even decided to cast her as Cortana in the upcoming Halo television series. In a strange twist of fate, she also ended up voicing the Cortana voice assistant for Windows, the counterpart to Apple's Siri — though Microsoft might want you to forget about that fact.
It's funny, considering Taylor told the New York Post that people usually can't tell who she is on the street. After all, Cortana is just her voice, not her face. Even so, she found it rewarding to voice such a beloved character. "It's interesting to see people when they are invested in something that you had a part in creating," she explained.
Taylor isn't just Cortana, though. She also played roles in popular television series and games like Salem from "RWBY," Zoey from "Left 4 Dead," and Princess Peach and Toad in nearly all the "Mario" games before 2018.
Shelley Calene-Black, Halo Legends
Shelley Calene-Black mostly voice acts for English dubs of anime shows and films, so it makes sense that she voiced Cortana in the first "Halo" animated series, "Halo Legends." Her voice differs greatly from Jen Taylor, though it still conveys the tone of an AI wise beyond her years. However, Halo diehards sometimes have an issue with her voice in comparison to Taylor's iconic performance. One YouTuber posted a video comparing the two for fans to judge themselves, and fans were quick to point out that Calene-Black provides a different sort of performance than other Cortana actors.
Either way, Calene-Black has her own accomplishments that shoot far beyond her role in "Halo Legends." As one commenter wrote, she's known for voicing Kyou Fujibashi from tearjerker "Clannad" and Takami Sahashi from "Sekirei." Other roles include Kuroko Smith from "Monster Musume," Lyza from "Made in Abyss," and Ayano Iida from "The Pet Girl of Sakurasou." She's also appeared in a live-action film, too. Calene-Black stars as the lead actress in 2016 Holocaust drama film, "Esther's Diary."
Yumi Toma, Halo Legends
Yumi Touma shared Cortana's Japanese voice role with fellow voice actress Ai Maeda in "Halo Legends." She only voiced Master Chief's assistant for a few episodes in the series, like "Origins." Like Maeda, she's better known for her roles in Japanese shows instead of "Halo."
Touma started her voice acting career in the 1980s, playing characters in classic series like "Saint Seiya," "Dragon Ball Z," and "Mobile Suit Gundam." Some of her best-known roles include Goddess Urd from "Ah My Goddess!" and Kikyo Yoshikawa from "A Certain Magical Index." Interestingly enough, she also played Sage from the "Tales of Symphonia" anime adaptations, proving that she has an interest in the video game world in addition to anime.
Aside from acting, Touma also sings, narrates, and runs her own agency called ALLURE&Y. She has plenty of live-action credits for narrating, even if she doesn't always show up on the screen.
Ai Maeda, Halo Legends
Ai Maeda voiced Cortana for a few episodes of the "Halo Legends" animated series, a role she shared with Yumi Touma. However, it's a relatively small role in Japan compared to her characters from other popular anime. Just to list a few, she voiced Mimi Tachikawa from "Digimon Adventure," Chihiro Fushimi from "Persona 3," and Sailor Pluto in the original "Sailor Moon" series and its following reboots.
Maeda also happens to be a woman of many talents. She's a singer under the stage name AiM and a songwriter under the name ai, though she never became a full-blown idol. One of her most popular songs is "I Wish," the ending theme to "Digimon Adventure." "Digimon Adventure tri." also included an updated version of the song for the last installment of the "Digimon Adventure" trilogy. In short, Maeda has the stage presence and talent to make it on live shows. However, it seems she preferred voice acting over screen time.
Nina Dobrev, Robot Chicken
Even long-time Halo fans might not realize that the raunchy animated skit show "Robot Chicken" ran a skit starring Cortana back in 2015. Nina Dobrev voiced the blue-skinned, clay recreation of the iconic AI and two other roles during the same segment. Her "Robot Chicken" appearance was only a one-time thing, so she didn't appear in the following years of "Halo" content on the show, and unfortunately neither did Cortana.
Dobrev mainly works as an on-screen actor, where she's played roles in a variety of teen films, like "The Perks of Being a Wallflower." Her experience playing teenage girls makes sense with her impression of Cortana, considering the sassy edge to her portrayal in the skit. She doesn't have as many voice acting credits in games or anime like other Cortana voice actresses, but that just means that she brings her own flavor to the short-lived role.