We recently learned that Bayonetta's voice actress changed to Bayonetta 3. Yusuke Miyata, director of the project, confirmed in an interview with Game Informer that due to "various circumstances that piled up," it was complicated for Hellena Taylor to return to play Bayonetta in the new installment. However, the studio held auditions to find the next voice of Bayonetta, and the actress who got the role was Jennifer Hale, as the studio felt she "fit the character well.”
Hellena Taylor, the original voice actor for Bayonetta, took to Twitter to reveal why she didn't return to voice Bayonetta in Bayonetta 3. She said she turned down the lead role due to unfair remuneration rates. The developers offered her an "insulting" payment for her work even though the franchise has generated millions of dollars.
According to Taylor, she received an offer of only $4000 to reprise her role as Bayonetta in the third game. She found this insulting, considering all her previous work and the fact that the saga has made over $450 MDD without considering merchandise sales.
Friends, Worldlings, Bayonutters. Hear ye!#PlatinumGames #Nintendo #Bayonetta #Bayonetta3 #Bayonutters #Boycott #NintendoEurope #NintendoAmerica #NintendoJapan pic.twitter.com/h9lwiX2bBt
— Hellena Taylor (@hellenataylor) October 15, 2022
New information has surfaced regarding Taylor’s story. According to Kotaku, a Bloomberg report revealed that PlatinumGames had initially offered to pay Taylor somewhere between $3,000 and $4,000 per four-hour session for at least five recording sessions for at least $15,000. However, it’s said that when Taylor instead asked for a “six-figure sum” to voice the character, negotiations broke down. As expected, this information arrived to many Bayonetta fans, which ultimately began a discussion online, whether Taylor was being too demanding or a gold digger, among many other descriptions against her.
In response to Bloomberg’s report, Taylor wrote a series of Tweets with the following message:
“It has come to my attention that some people are calling me a liar and golddigger. I feel the need to defend myself and my reputation in the industry.
As I posted on part three of my video thread. I explained that their first offer was too low. That offer was 10,000 dollars total. Remember, this is 450 million dollar franchise, (not counting merchandise.) I then wrote in Japanese to Hideki Kamiya, asking for what I was worth. I thought that as a creative, he would understand. He replied saying how much he valued my contribution to the game and how much the fans wanted me to voice the game. I was then offered an extra 5,0000!
So, I declined to voice the game. I then heard nothing from them for 11 months. They then offered me a flat fee to voice some lines for 4,000 dollars. Any other lies, such as 4,000 for 5 sessions are total fabrications.
There were not “extensive negotiations.” I’ve also been informed of ridiculous fictions, such as I asked for 250,000 dollars. I am a team player. I was just asking for a fair, living wage in line with the value that I bring to this game.
I was paid a shockingly low total of £3000 total for the first game. A little more for the second. I wanted to voice her. I have drummed up interest in this game ever since I started on Twitter in 2011.”
[tweet]https://twitter.com/hellenataylor/status/1584415390171480066[/tweet]
Undoubtedly, voice acting has never been the best-paid role in video game productions. This is no news. However, Helena’s story opens up the conversation to many more voice actors in the industry, making this case a collective matter.
What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comment section!
In case you missed it: Not one, but TWO Bayonetta 3 trailers have arrived!
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