Bayonetta 3, a sequel in the popular Bayonetta videogame series, is set to launch on October 28th. This is great news for any fans of the series, as the previous installment came out over 8 years ago on the 20th of September in 2014. While the game’s fame can be attributed to its superb gameplay and overal polish, I believe that the character of Bayonetta herself has played a massive role in its popularity. The witch who wears clothing made out of her own hair has a distinct and captivating British accent which pairs well with her banteringly and suggestive attitude she displays when fighting enemies.
However, Hellena Taylor, who voices the titular witch, alluded last year in the following tweet that she might not be reprising her role in the upcoming game. In a response to a fan saying that they couldn’t imagine the character without her voice, she said: “Well you might have to.”
Furthermore, some fans noticed that Bayonetta’s voice in the reveal trailer for Bayonetta 3 was a bit different. At first, there was a hope that this meant that Hellena would voice another Bayonetta in the game, as the plot seems to include a multiverse of sorts, allowing for the possibility of multiple voice actresses voicing the same character.
Unfortunately, Hellena Taylor confirmed on the 15th of October through a video posted on her Twitter account that she would definitively not make any kind of appearance in the game. The reason, however, is what ended up becoming the bigger story. Hellena claims that she was offered a measly 4000 US dollars for the task of voicing Bayonetta for the whole game. A game which comes from a franchise which has grossed over 450 million dollars. This was understandably taken as an insult by the well-experienced and trained voice actress. She goes on to call for a boycott of Bayonetta 3, saying that fans should give the money they would’ve paid for the game to charity instead.
This video quickly went viral, sparking a discourse about the treatment of voice actors in popular media. Countless tweets by other voice actors detailing their accounts of being underpaid gained traction as well. Anairis Quiñones, for example, voiced Rika Orimoto in the movie Jujutsu Kaisen 0 (which grossed 190 million dollars worldwide) and tweeted that she was only paid a shockingly low 150 dollars for her talents. This tweet was a response to the news that Kyle McCarley, who voiced Mob in the hit anime “Mob Psycho”, wouldn’t reprise his role after a union dispute with Crunchyroll (currently the biggest anime streaming platform).
Another interesting case of voice actors being treated without the respect they deserve, is Charles Martinet. Charles, as some of you may already know, voices the iconic Nintendo mascot, Mario. He also voices a plethora of other characters in the Mario universe, like Luigi, Wario, and Waluigi to name a few. One would assume, then, that the upcoming Mario movie by Illumination Studios was practically made for him. Of course, as we now know, the cast consists mainly of Hollywood stars like Chris Pratt and Seth Rogen (truthfully, this replacement of actual trained voice actors by Hollywood stars has been happening in the industry for a while now). Don’t get me wrong, I think certain castings for this movie are amazing. Charlie Day can wonderfully play a jumpy, anxious wreck of a character like Luigi and Jack Black has, in the eyes of many, already shown his ability to play Bowser amazingly well after the trailer came out.
But, in the end, Charles has voiced Mario and Co. for years now, only to be shoved aside to play cameos in the movie. It even seems like Charles hasn’t voiced Mario for years now regardless. Fans are speculating that Nintendo is just reusing old recordings for their newer games. This clip here shows some pretty funny evidence.
All in all, it’s becoming clearer by the day that voice actors, who already struggle in a pretty competitive field, aren’t being treated with the respect they deserve. Hopefully this Bayonetta fiasco will rally people together and serve as a turning point for the industry.
Great post!! We definitely should have more respect for voice actors, since we tend to forget how much training there is to become a VA. But seeing Twitter unfold the Bayonetta-debate, it sure makes this case far blurrier than we might have thought.