It's Official, Bayonetta's OG Voice Actor Won't Be Returning For The Third Outing

I think the role is in good hands. Voicing Samus in the Metroid Prime games, as the article points out, and also Jennifer voiced Avatar Kyoshi in Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra, as another notable role I've heard her in, so she has some range.

Unfortunate but it sounds like it was her choice. Can’t do much better than Hale though. I knew I heard a slight amount of Bastilla in the new trailer. I thought it was because I was playing through KOTOR at the time but I’m happy to know I’m not crazy now. lol

Unfortunate, but ultimately understandable

For a game that has been in production for a number of years, they couldn’t find the time to squeeze her in?

I’m not buying it (figuratively, that is).

What a shame. I hate unnecessary recasts.

They either recast the voice because they're going to do some sort of plot twist involving her being a different character, or they recast it because the VA didn't want to return, couldn't return, or they just didn't want her to return.

Gutted but did see it coming. Jennifer Hale is a great VA as well.

I haven't played Bayonetta but Hale is an excellent voice actress so there shouldn't be anything to worry about.

I hope that she plays Samus again down the line, if Samus is ever forced to have extended lines again

I have no issue with this whatsoever, but they couldn’t announce or confirm this at any point prior to the month of release? That’s kind of funny.

It’s Jennifer Hale, the role is in good hands (vocal chords). Honestly this makes me more hyped to play. Glad the Japanese VA remained however.

@Ryu_Niiyama it does seem to be more common on the japan side to keep the voices consistent as much as they can. I remember when the big recasting of Solid Snake happened in MGS5 his japanese voice actor didnt change.

@Tsuchinoko Yeah, that also makes me of Kiyoshi Kobayashi voicing Jigen in Lupin III until just last year. He played the role until close to his death. Japanese culture is very different when it comes to having voice actors reprise their role for as long as they physically are able to.

@Silly_G Scheduling conflicts, maybe family related stuff. Things happen. They're not robots.

Great choice, though for games as over-the-top as this one, I'd prefer to see this as an anime game and listen to Bayonetta's Japanese voice instead.

Unfortunate, buts it’s definitely not a deal breaker. I appreciate Taylor for voicing Bayonetta for all those games. I’m sure the new recast will be fine.

Wonder if she wanted more money than they were willing to offer or something. As long as it's been in the works there's no way she couldn't find the week or less it would take to record the lines out of her schedule.

Not sure why the article makes it seem like this is breaking news that just happened. The game is out in a matter of weeks, so obviously she had to be replaced quite a while ago.

As for the change, Jennifer Hale is great, so no big deal there.

A shame since Taylor basically made the character all her own in the first two games but Hale is voice-over royalty that will no doubt do Bayo justice so can't really complain over that recast. Still sad to see Taylor go but not any less excited for 3.

Unsurprised, but I'm not too torn over this. It's like replacing David Hayter with Kiefer Sutherland or Earl Boen with Jess Harnell. As long as the VA gets the character and the voice isn't to jarring, I can be fine with changing an actor.

Metroid Prime had voice work?

@Yodalovesu Jeniffer Hale did the grunt sound for Samus and recorded a cut monolog in the opening of Metroid Prime 1

i wonder what prevented Helena Taylor for voicing Bayonetta in Bayonetta 3? i gonna miss her fatantic voice as Bayonetta, at least Platinum Games choose a amazing voice actress to voice Bayonetta in her place

Was sad it had changed but they couldn't have done better than Hale so fully on board now!
Just hope it was mutual.

@Yodalovesu
A weird role to highlight seeing as it was a cut intro dialogue, and then all the grunts and screams you would expect.

@Silly_G the text states that it was difficult for Helena to return.

Probably something out of everyones hands. And probably not Platinum’s fault.

@Tsuchinoko Unfun fact, Hideo Kojima tried to replace the English Voice Actor for Snake, David Hayter, as early as MGS3. He had to readdition for the role multiple times over multiple games, being chosen each time. With MGSV, they just didn't offer it to him at all.

I am oddly disapointed by this. I really thought the voice work on the first two was something that made a ridiculous character work. Still, such is life

@VoidofLight People have been speculating that the Bayonetta we've seen so far might be...different in this one. I'll just leave it at that..

She has good range too. While she does the tough girl voice for Mass Effect and Metroid, she does a younger, cuter voice for Rivet in Ratchet and Clank, and Leah in Diablo 3.

@Bizzyb it's a possibility but since they kept the original va in the Japanese version Idk. but who knows

That trailer made me cringe more than the time my dad called everyone a miserable little pile of secrets.

@N00BiSH Smiles and knowingly raises index finger Ahh, that "Earl Boen/Jess Harnell" bit really hits me hard, yeah! LeChuck just was not the same at all.

But, as for Bayonetta, I've personally been a fan of Jennifer Hale for a very long time, so I'll press on with the game.

Yea, if you're gonna replace Bayo's voice with anyone, Jennifer is a great solution. I'm not worried about the result.

And here I thought they were talking about Alésia Glidewell, who voiced Samus in the Super Smash Bros. series, but is also known for being able to do a British accent.

She used such an accent when voicing Krystal in both Star Fox: Assault and the Super Smash Bros. series, and also when she voiced Neyla in Sly Cooper 2.

Although, Jessica Martin, who voiced Samus in Metroid: Other M, can also do a British accent, as heard in her voice-over demo reel on her website.

If in the first place people wasn't quite sure in the trailers if it was Taylor or not voice acting Bayonetta then I think all is good. If we were really keen and adamant on the actual person + her voice for the character and still wasn't sure from the footage then that already says things.

It's apparent that most people either just wants Taylor (biased maybe?) to voice the character (regardless of how she delivers) or just the voice/acting. Cuz I remember in the trailer comments people just assumed and were like "yes, it's hellena taylor omg!!!". Then we get this confirmation...

I didn't even notice until it was pointed out. Hale was a great choice for a replacement. She has now voiced Samus and Bayonetta, very cool.

Japanese sides of studios seem to really make the effort to keep the same voice actors, it seems to be a weird American thing to have more problems with keeping them consistent from game to game or across media like from a game to a film.

I still can't get over how particularly egregious the recasting for FFVII Remake was

@Tsuchinoko MGS was stuntcasting. Wasn't much outside the logs anyway. For western dubs it seems to depend on union related stuff.

A bit getting used to I think. During the footage of Bayonetta 3 she sounded a bit softer, less menacing. But that could be me.

Sounds like they didn’t want to work with. Union.

@SteamEngenius could’ve been a variety issues. She’s from England, depending where Platinum was holding the English localization sessions, COVID rules might have prevented her from traveling. She made a comment on this possibility last year, so I’m thinking they were doing the recordings around that time. They couldn’t hold it off any longer too, which leads me to believe why they recasted her.

While this isn’t a game being developed within Nintendo’s studios, I would imagine Platinum had (or chose) to keep updates at a minimum. Any choices relating to the game development, including voice actors, I doubt Nintendo has any control if they allowed Platinum their freedom to do as they want with their game. Nintendo might be providing the money, but they pretty much let Platinum design and develop the game.

@Silly_G

How do you know it was an unnecessary recast? These are human beings, they either can or cannot work on any given project at a given time.

(I'm assuming I'm scolding a 10yo because an adult would have some perspective.)

Im salty theres not enough witch representation 🙃

It's hard to speculate why a recast like this happened. It definitely doesn't seem like a creative decision (could be a creative difference, but who knows), and scheduling conflicts aren't as common for voice actors as they are with live actors. Heck, some VAs like Sean Chiplock have enough time outside of work hours to actively stream on Twitch.

that sucks, but I adore Hale's work too

Gutted as Taylor is Bayonetta, i love Hale but she ain't Bayonetta.

@MagicEmperor I actually really liked Harnell's take on LeChuck, fit more with the story Return was telling. My original comment wasn't worded well enough to express that, so I updated it.

@VoidofLight

My money is on them hiring a different voice actor for plot reasons. Because the game isn’t out yet, they can’t exactly admit that for spoiler purposes. Hence why they’re blaming this on “scheduling conflicts”.

I could be wrong but I have a strong hunch that I am not.

Very disappointing and no good reason is given. It was not Helena's choice, she said as much on twitter.

Jennifer Hale is one of the greats definitely. Rivet in R&C: Rift Apart is one of my favorite characters from recent memory.

Not happy about this but whatever… it’s just Hale is everywhere. Just like Troy Baker. Getting tired of hearing them.

@Ade117

Like Shūichi Ikeda, who has voiced Char Aznable from Gundam since 1979 and most recently voiced him again in MSG: The Origin and before that he voiced Full Frontal (a clone of Char) in Gundam Unicorn.

Same with Amuro’s JP VA. He’s been doing it since 1979 and just did it again for the latest MSG Gundam film (an expanded remake of an episode from the original 1979 series).

ew ! not good for an iconic character to change and especially aproblem because jenifer hale sounds exactly the same in every game.
it is supposed to be voice acting not acting in your voice.

I was thinking they recast her to save money, but Hale is an industry legend. It proabably did come down to scheduling after all.

so, they couldn't cast another British VA? or they were just to lazy to settle for someone who can impersonate a British accent?

Unfortunate, but nothing for me to cry over. Much success to both VA's going forward.

It's a lame answer, ultimately Platinum can do what it wants but I wish they were more upfront with what happened. To me, it's as disappointing as when Kojima decided to recast the role of Snake/Big Boss. Hoping it won't be jarring since I've only played the Bayonetta games with the English voice acting turned on instead of Japanese.

I still think of Jennifer Hale as Elena from Grandia 2. Although Millenia has more in common with Bayonetta.

Unfortunate but if it's her choice then it's fine. I love Jennifer Hale, bug fan of Mass Effect Femshep, Samus and Avatar! We're in good hands with J Hale

Probably a union thing, much like Claire Redfields's voice actor.
Enough reason for me to skip this game.

Has Hellen’s publicly said anything about the role? Else, it could just mean they went for the cheaper voice option.

@Nua Which is funny because Snake had basically no lines that game because of the expense of getting a "real actor". Metal Gear Solid 5 is my least favorite Metal Gear, I barely got halfway through it.

So, she became a union actress? Like the voice of Mob in Mob Pdycho?

@Gamer83 wait, wasn't that because it's a different character with plastic surgery in the game?

@Giancarlothomaz I would either they were doing recordings during covid (so harder to do the recordings with covid restrictions, though I would assume any other recurring characters would have had to be recast). Or she became a member of a union.

@malcire
Was more to do with Kojima being an egomaniacal, idiotic jacka$$.
https://screenrant.com/metal-gear-solid-snake-different-voice-mgsv-who/

@Tsuchinoko Japanese VAs sometimes have the opportunity to sign contracts specifically to play their characters which allows them to continue playing them for years and years. It also earns them royalties which English VAs sadly don't get that opportunity in the west.

@kidkytes thanks for the info.