Last year, Bayonetta voice actor Hellena Taylor made headlines after hinting that she might not be returning to voice the role in Bayonetta 3. Developer PlatinumGames has now confirmed that Taylor will not voice the character in the Nintendo Switch game; instead, Jennifer Hale will be stepping into the role. Taylor has voiced the character in the past two Bayonetta games, as well as in the Super Smash Bros. series. In an interview with Game Informer, director Yusuke Miyata revealed that “overlapping circumstances” were to blame for the recast, while speaking highly of Hale’s performance as the game’s protagonist.
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“Various overlapping circumstances made it difficult for Hellena Taylorto reprise her role. We held auditions to cast the new voice ofBayonetta and offered the role to Jennifer Hale, whom we felt was a goodmatch for the character,” said Miyata. “I understand the concerns some fans have aboutthe voice change at this point in the series, but Jennifer’sperformance was way beyond what we could have imagined. I’m confidentthat her portrayal of Bayonetta will exceed our fans’ expectations.”
Longtime fans of the Bayonetta games are sure to be disappointed by the news that Taylor won’t be returning, but Jennifer Hale has a long history in the video game industry, voicing a number of beloved characters. Hale’s voice work can be heard in games such as Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (Bastila Shan), BioShock Infinite (Rosalind Lutece), and Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (Jean Grey). She has also voiced Samus Aran in all three previous entries of the Metroid Prime series, though it has not been confirmed whether she’ll return for Metroid Prime 4.ย
It remains to be seen how Hale will perform in the role of Bayonetta, but fans won’t have to wait much longer to find out, as Bayonetta 3 will release on October 28th, exclusively on Nintendo Switch. In the meantime, readers can check out all of our previous coverage of the game right here.
Are you disappointed that Bayonetta has been recast? Do you plan on picking up Bayonetta 3? Let us know in the comments or share directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!
[H/T: Nintendo Everything]
