Halo's Cortana actor says the direction Bungie gave her for the FPS was to sound like "the girl next door" that you "wanted to hang out with, but you're not in love with"

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Halo's Cortana actor says the direction Bungie gave her for the FPS was to sound like "the girl next door" that you "wanted to hang out with, but you're not in love with" News By Kaan Serin published 7 December 2025

Sorry, shippers

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Cortana, the blue AI that guides Master Chief through almost the entirety of the Halo series, is in many ways a larger than life character, capable of helping to save or nearly destroying the universe. But Bungie didn't give the character's voice actor much direction outside the fact that Cortana had to sound like "the girl next door" in the player's ear.

Cortana's long-time voice actor Jen Taylor (who also has roles in Dota 2, Left 4 Dead, and played Princess Peach for almost a decade) appeared in a Fall Damage video to try to guess some of her most iconic lines. And when recalling the legendary shooter's early days, Taylor said she "didn't have inspirations from other media" when creating the character.

"The direction I got was, 'Listen, we're walking a line here because you're going to be telling us what to do, so your voice needs to be pleasant,'" Taylor remembered. "And they really wanted the sound of the girl next door, somebody that you like. At the time, it was somebody that you cared about and wanted to hang out with, but you're not in love with… she's not that girl."

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Hearing that is interesting because there's always been fan debates around how deep Master Chief and Cortana's relationship really goes. Do they share the bond of comrades or is there something romantic going on? I always thought the pair mirrored each other quite nicely: there's the human who acts like a machine and the machine who acts human both taking care of each other. But maybe all the Cortana and Chief shippers are projecting. Who's to say?

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Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. CATEGORIES Xbox Series X PC Gaming Platforms Xbox Kaan SerinFreelance contributor

Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that's vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he'll soon forget.

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Logout Read more If you weren't already convinced a new Halo game is being announced this month, Master Chief's voice actor has teased "BIG NEWS A’COMIN!"    Exciting news in the Halo archives: a new lore revelation continues a tradition that series creator Bungie started in 1994 with the original Marathon    Bungie had an unspoken rule for Halo cinematics: "Never make the player in the cinematic feel more 'badass' than the actual game"    Halo co-creator Marcus Lehto redesigned Master Chief 9 times before perfecting the Xbox mascot: "It took forever, but I wasn't going to stop"    The Aliens game from Borderlands studio Gearbox ended up a flop, but Tiny Tina and Horizon actor Ashly Burch was just "excited" to be involved: "Are people even going to remember that I was in this?"    Halo: Campaign Evolved leads call AI "a tool in a toolbox" comparable to others like Photoshop, but assure "the people are the ones who are creating the game"    Latest in Halo After Apple originally announced the first version of Halo in 1999, Xbox apparently called Bungie and said "'Steve Jobs can't have that. We're going to buy you.'"    Halo co-creator Marcus Lehto redesigned Master Chief 9 times before perfecting the Xbox mascot: "It took forever, but I wasn't going to stop"    Replaying Halo: The Master Chief Collection has become my annual tradition, and co-op makes the classics hit as hard as they did 15 years ago    Halo Infinite is finished with "major" updates after its next release as devs focus on Halo: Campaign Evolved, fans lament it's "going out on a whimper"    Bungie had an unspoken rule for Halo cinematics: "Never make the player in the cinematic feel more 'badass' than the actual game"    Halo MMO from OG Age of Empires and Halo Wars devs was canceled because a former Xbox boss wanted a bonus, says dev, despite Microsoft projecting it'd make $1 billion    Latest in News Halo's Cortana actor says the direction Bungie gave her for the FPS was to sound like "the girl next door" that you "wanted to hang out with, but you're not in love with"    Assassin's Creed Shadows lead teases "things that are set up" in the open-world RPG "should keep happening in other projects and evolve" thanks to the Animus Hub    Alien star Sigourney Weaver gives another intriguing update on potential return as Ellen Ripley    The Boys Season 5 teaser trailer hints at a horrific Homelander beatdown    Fallout and The Elder Scrolls boss Todd Howard's GOTY pick just so happens to be the current game of the year frontrunner Clair Obscur: Expedition 33    Assassin's Creed Shadows associate director has a hot tip for the next Ubisoft studio taking on the franchise: "Pay more attention to parkour as its own pillar"    GAME REVIEWSMOVIE REVIEWSTV REVIEWS

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