Hellena Taylor
Set off warning: the next article incorporates mentions of melancholy and suicide
One among Bayonetta 3’s most head-scratching selections was Platinum’s determination to modify Bayonetta’s voice actor from Hellena Taylor to Jennifer Hale. Taylor performed the Umbra Witch within the first two video games, however Platinum defined in our cowl story that she wouldn’t reprise the function resulting from “various overlapping circumstances.” Taylor had been largely silent on the difficulty, presumably resulting from a non-disclosure settlement, however has damaged her silence with a fiery message claiming “immoral” compensation from Platinum.
In a Twitter thread, Taylor shared a three-part video message the place she explains how issues fell aside between herself and Platinum. She says that when Bayonetta 3 was in growth, she was required to re-audition for the function, which is customary apply since a performer’s voice can change as they age. Taylor states she handed “with flying colors,” to which Platinum introduced her with what she describes as “an insulting offer”.
Taylor says she then wrote Platinum co-founder and Bayonetta 3 supervising director Hideki Kamiya on to demand “what I’m worth.” She claims Kamiya replied by expressing his worth for her expertise and her reputation with the fanbase. Platinum then supplied her a $4,000 flat price for her your complete voiceover job.
“The Bayonetta franchise made an approximated $450 million. That’s not including merchandise,” says Taylor. “...this is an insult to me, the amount of time that I took to work on my talent, and everything that I have given to this game and to the fans. I am asking the fans to boycott this game and instead spend the money that you would have spent on this game donating it to charity. I didn’t want the world. I didn’t ask for too much. I was just asking for a decent, dignified living wage. What they did was legal, but it was immoral.”
Taylor, a classically educated actor, author, and director, says she’s calling for the boycott as a present of solidarity for underpaid staff. She feedback on England’s value of dwelling and wage points, saying, “there are nurses going to food banks to feed their children. This is not right, this is not acceptable. It impacts mental health.” Taylor says the monetary strife brought on her to endure bouts of melancholy and anxiousness to the extent that she was at one level suicidal.
“I am not afraid of the non-disclosure agreement,” says Taylor. “I can’t even afford to run a car. What are they going to do, take my clothes? Good luck to them.”
As for Platinum’s assertion implying {that a} scheduling battle was the explanation Taylor was recast, she responds by saying:
“Platinum had the cheek to say that I used to be busy, that they ‘couldn’t make it work with Ms. Taylor’s schedule’ whereas I had nothing however time."
Taylor then feedback on Jennifer Hale changing her, saying:
“They now have a new girl voicing her over. And I love actors, I wish her all the joy in the world, I wish her all the jobs. But she has no right to say she is the voice of Bayonetta. I created that voice. She has no right to sign merchandise as Bayonetta anymore than I have the right to sign as Eva Green, even though I was her parrot on the video game The Golden Compass. That portrayal is hers and hers alone.”
Taylor concludes by saying, “They’ll probably try to do a spin-off with Jeanne. Don’t buy that one either.”
Hideki Kamiya has seemingly tweeted a response, writing "Sad and deplorable about the attitude of untruth. That's what all I can tell now."
So there it's. We’ll see how or if Platinum as an entire responds (particularly legally since Taylor is evidently breaking an NDA), however that is dangerous PR blow to get hit with so near Bayonetta 3's launch. A vocal sect of the hardcore Bayonetta fanbase had already suspected there was rather more to the voiceover change than what Platinum said; some hoped the multiversal storyline introduced the likelihood that Hellena nonetheless appeared as a Bayonetta variant. That’s apparently not the case, and it’ll be attention-grabbing to see if a boycott does achieve any traction.
Bayonetta 3 is slated to launch on October 28 for Change.
