Jennifer Hale has opened up on PlatinumGames' controversial decision to hire her and replace original voice actor Hellena Taylor for Bayonetta 3, admitting, "I definitely got thrown under the bus by that whole thing."
Just ahead of the third instalment of Hideki Kamiya's stylish action game series, PlatinumGames revealed that Taylor — who voiced Bayonetta in the first two games — wouldn’t return, and would instead be portrayed by Hale.
“Various overlapping circumstances made it difficult for Hellena Taylor to reprise her role,” Platinum said at the time. “We held auditions to cast the new voice of Bayonetta and offered the role to Jennifer Hale, whom we felt was a good match for the character."
In 2022, Taylor released a thread of videos on Twitter claiming she was offered only $4,000 in total to reprise the role for Bayonetta 3. In addition, Taylor asked fans to boycott the game and instead donate the money they would have spent on it to charity.
A subsequent report from Bloomberg (and later corroborated by VGC) revealed that Platinum allegedly attempted to hire Taylor for five four-hour sessions at a rate between $3,000 and $4,000 apiece. This would have put Taylor's total compensation for Bayonetta 3 at $15,000, much higher than the amount she claimed she was offered. Taylor then released a new statement, saying she was in fact offered $15,000 for the role, but she denied aspects of the reports.
Hale also released a statement amid increased scrutiny and social media harassment over the situation, although it was vague due to non-disclosure limitations.
Now, considering whether or not she'd reprise her role as the titular witch, Hale was cautious but candid, admitting that while she'd "love to play Bayonetta again," "it was not fun getting thrown under the bus like I had."
"I definitely got thrown under the bus by that whole thing, and I was unable to speak on my own behalf because I was under not one but two NDAs. Eventually, I was allowed to make a statement, which I appreciated, and I was able to present the facts,” Hale told GAMINGbible.
“There were some things said [that were] presented as facts, but were false. I would have never taken a role otherwise. Before I accepted the audition, I checked everything thoroughly, and I trust the director. Thankfully, playing Bayonetta was so much fun, and the community was so welcoming to me, especially after the fiasco had passed and the facts came out. But it was not fun getting thrown under the bus like I had, but I was happy to come out on the other side."
The iconic voice behind Commander Shepard would also love to return for Mass Effect 5, saying she "would be there before they finish the sentence" if asked. Hale, the actress who gave life to "FemShep" spoke to IGN recently and expressed her desire to return to perhaps her most beloved character.
It turns out she wouldn’t even need to reprise her role as Commander Shepard — just being able to step back into that world again in any form would make her happy.
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Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for ReedPop.
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
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