Cognition Dissemination: The Bayonetta Voiceover Mess (Updated)

The Bayonetta 3 promotional campaign was derailed in a way no one expected over the weekend. Hellena Taylor, who previously voiced Bayonetta, did not reprise the role for the third installment, with it being taken over by Jennifer Hale. But there was a question of why this happened. Taylor was previously vague about why she wasn’t retained through Twitter replies, and noted to fans how she couldn’t comment in detail thanks to signing a non-disclosure agreement.

Friends, Worldlings, Bayonutters. Hear ye!#PlatinumGames #Nintendo #Bayonetta #Bayonetta3 #Bayonutters #Boycott #NintendoEurope #NintendoAmerica #NintendoJapan pic.twitter.com/h9lwiX2bBt

— Hellena Taylor (@hellenataylor) October 15, 2022

Taylor, however, said “screw it” and detailed the reasons why she didn’t return on Saturday, legally-binding agreement be damned. In the four-video series, she explained how he was offered a mere $4,000 to reprise the role from PlatinumGames, one negotiated upward from a lower amount. Taylor believed the amount offered to be an insult for someone whose portrayal helped to create the character and form her personality (remember: Taylor was the only voice for Bayonetta worldwide at one point), and thus didn’t take it. PG’s offer, she said, was “immoral,” and asked for fans to boycott Bayonetta 3 and future installments in response to this company and the others who don’t want to pay voice actors living wages.

The $4,000 amount is indeed insultingly low for talent that will play the returning protagonist for a new installment in a successful franchise, even if the amount Taylor provided regarding the Bayonetta franchise’s total profits are likely overinflated. Taylor also reportedly sent a letter to Executive Producer Hideki Kamiya (who directed the first game), but that was to no avail.

This is hardly the first time the voice of the protagonist in a long-running franchise has been replaced, but there are several ways in which this current situation is remarkably unprecedented in video games. David Hayter was upset when he realized he was replaced as Big Boss in the Metal Gear Solid V games, with Kiefer Sutherland taking his place. But Taylor has gone considerably further in airing her justifiable grievances about how this went down, which is why more mainstream outlets that cover video game news sparingly like TMZ and Variety picked it up. It’s a scorched earth approach, but she has little to lose by doing so.

It didn’t help that Kamiya’s tweet after Taylor posted her video series was the equivalent of throwing a gas canister into a burning building.  “Sad and deplorable about the attitude of untruth,” he said. “That’s what all I can tell now.” Kamiya’s had an abrasive, block-heavy style on Twitter for years, but it was a horrible fit for the current extremely tenuous affair when attitudes in response to worker mistreatment were blaring.

In addition to the push for a boycott of the game, there are couple of other reasons why this took off. One is constant speculation and guesswork regarding why PlatinumGames (and Nintendo, who funded it) went about the situation in this way. Early theories suggested this happened due to the original Bayonetta being killed off in-game with a multiverse replacement having a new voice. But that didn’t hold up when the Japanese voice actress, Atsuko Tanaka, was retained from previous games.

Not to mention how Taylor, who is unionized with SAG-AFTRA, was replaced by Jennifer Hale, one of the most prolific voices in the business who’s also unionized with SAG-AFTRA. There’s every reason to believe that Hale simply took the offer, considering, as fellow voice actor William Salyers mentioned in the comments of the Kotaku article about this story, this is the normal rate for unionized voice talent in the industry. Taylor simply felt she deserved more than that, and was within her right to do so considering how integral her portrayal was to the character. Hale has since responded, though can say little thanks to being bound by an NDA. She has much more to lose if she broke it.

The last paragraph highlights why discussions about this have been so contentious since Saturday, because it’s tough to pinpoint precisely why this went down the way it did. The most analogous situation for this in video gaming is the aforementioned incident of Hayter being replaced in the MGSV games, but it was easy to figure out why that happened. Metal Gear series creator and director Hideo Kojima loves Hollywood movies and shows and wanted a big star to headline the game, and got Kiefer Sutherland to do it. (He also reportedly never liked Hayter’s portrayal of the character.) But this isn’t an entirely analogous issue, as Hayter was never the only voice for Snake and Big Boss in the Metal Gear series (Akio Otsuka was always the Japanese voice), nor were there any reports about Hayter being integral to the development of both characters.

In any case, this is the newest and most viral example among several that have shined a light on how poorly voice actors are paid in much of the entertainment we play and watch. Between the pitiful salaries for Jujutsu Kaisen 0 despite the movie doing well at the box office worldwide, Crunchyroll refusing to fully work with Kyle McCarley and SAG-AFTRA to reprise the role of Mob in the Mob Psycho 100 dub’s third season, discussions about AI voices, and this situation, voice actors aren’t paid anywhere near as well as many thought.

There are questions regarding whether the boycott will be effective, the assumption being that anyone who isn’t Too Online won’t care. Don’t be so quick to assume that. As I mentioned above, this situation is unprecedented in several ways; replaced voice talent has never gone scorched earth to this extent, usually because they’d like future jobs in the industry. (And I’m not saying Taylor doesn’t deserve future opportunities, though reprising Bayonetta has been her only voiceover work since 2009.) It is, therefore, impossible to predict whether the boycott calls will be effective or not. The Bayonetta franchise, one that was essentially saved by Nintendo when Sega cancelled Bayonetta 2, is not a massive AAA one, and chances are much of the audience for it follows online developments. There’s also the chance of this triggering a Streisand Effect and advertising the game. But no one should rule out the chance of a boycott being effective.

If it is effective, though, it could prove that voice actors are underestimating how powerful their, pardon the pun, voices and reach are. It typically takes several incidents to lead to positive change, to voice talent being paid better wages with benefits and residuals, but this will hopefully be one of them. I hope that Taylor will be well in the future.

Update (10/19/22): This is very much a continuing story.