New Bayonetta 3 voice actor confirmed as Jennifer Hale by director-Michael Beckwith-Entertainment – Metro

Bayonetta 3 – we finally have a name to a voice (pic: Nintendo)

Fans finally know who the new voice of Bayonetta is in the third game, and it’s the same woman who played female Shepard in Mass Effect.

Ever since the first proper trailer for Bayonetta 3 dropped last year, long time fans quickly noticed that she had a new voice, confirming rumours that her voice actor Hellena Taylor had been replaced.

In the year since, neither Nintendo nor PlatinumGames commented on or acknowledged the change in voice actor. Now, though, game director Yusuke Miyata has given an explanation and confirmed the new actor’s identity.

It turns out that none other than Jennifer Hale, one of the most recognised voice actors in the business, has taken over the role.

Even if you don’t know the name, you’ve likely played heard her voice somewhere. Hale has been a prominent voice actor for both games and cartoons as far back as 1994.

Many will best know her as the voice of female Commander Shepard from the Mass Effect trilogy. Some of her more recent roles include Rivet, one of the playable protagonists from Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, and Kronika, the main villain and final boss of Mortal Kombat 11.

While some may find it a bit weird for PlatinumGames to go with a Canadian-American actress for Bayonetta rather than another British one, Miyata very much seems to think Hale was the best pick for the role.

‘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,’ he told Game Informer.

‘I understand the concerns some fans have about the voice change at this point in the series, but Jennifer’s performance was way beyond what we could have imagined. I’m confident that her portrayal of Bayonetta will exceed our fans’ expectations.’

As for why Hellena Taylor was replaced to begin with, Mitsuda has only said that it was due to ‘various overlapping circumstances’ that made it difficult for her to reprise the role.

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Taylor herself hasn’t issued an explanation either, though she did previously say that she was bound by a confidentiality clause. This means she can’t legally comment on why she was replaced.

In case anyone was wondering, Bayonetta’s Japanese voice actress hasn’t been recast. So it’s still Atsuko Tanaka voicing her in Bayonetta 3.

Bayonetta 3 launches for Nintendo Switch on October 28.

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