If you’re remotely interested in the voice acting industry, or the Bayonetta franchise, there’s no way you haven’t heard about the uproar caused by Hellena Taylor, the voice of Bayonetta herself for the first two games. Previously it was thought that Taylor would not be returning to voice the character due to scheduling conflicts, however in a bombshell Twitter announcement, the actress revealed that she rejected the role due to a horribly low payment offer by Platinum Games. Posted on the 15th, her original explanation video has garnished over 8.7 million views at the time of writing with her follow up videos each receiving some hundred thousand. There’s so much to this story that you may want to, you know, actually read an article from a legitimate news source, but I’m going to do my best to break down the main events in the next paragraph. The interested can find her first explanatory video below, or check out her Twitter page for the entire saga.
Okay so the footnotes version is that Hellena was asked to return for the third game. She agreed and passed an audition check that was basically to ensure her voice hadn’t changed too much over time and that she could still produce a voice close to the previous installments. After passing that with flying colors, she was given a low offer by Platinum. Disappointed, she then reached out to Hideki Kamiya, one of the OG founders of Platinum Games via a translator in Japan, asking said translator to express her lack of content with the suggested payment. After that, Kamiya responded with the offer of $4000 after telling her how much she meant to the franchise and how acting was very valued to bring these characters to life in the game. It is unclear whether Taylor tried to negotiate further at this point or went straight to Twitter, but this was the breaking point for her. She then posted her recount of the events, essentially stating that at this point if she broke an NDA she doesn’t care, as voice actors don’t get paid enough to own anything worth taking anyway. “What will they take, my clothes?” she jested. Outraged she called for a boycott of Bayonetta 3, and that was the final spark Twitter needed to implode.
It had begun.
Since then everybody in the world has taken up arms to share their opinion and start scrapping with the opposition.Tons of people attacked Kamiya to the point where his Twitter account is now deleted. This was after he posted a series of Tweets in Japanese that explained he was sad at the situation and angry at how people were reacting. Meanwhile other voice actors have stepped in. The recent lackluster trailer of Mario with Chris Patt voice acting him came to the spotlight, as many were outraged that Pratt was likely receiving millions for his role while delivering a mediocre performance (judging from the trailer) and that Taylor’s bussin’ Bayonetta was only worth $4,000 for the entire gig. Other VA’s shared their disgust at the price, as some NSFW actresses were quick to reveal they could make that much without nearly as much training as Taylor or big budget clients like Platinum Games. Sean Chiplock, a Texas-based VA stated that his basic union contract is $950 per character per day. Apparently he has even negotiated royalty deals to where two (2!) offscreen lines in Detective Pikachu earned him more cash than the ENTIRETY of his work in Breath of the Wild. With everybody coming out to talk about the situation, it has been brought to light just how much pay can vary in the industry, and how these companies are raking in huge pay days while the people who bring the franchise to life are often compensated little in comparison.
Well I’m no expert but I think that covers the majority of the situation. This shit is constantly evolving, I mean I just found out about Kamiya’s account being deleted moments before writing this up. For now though, that’s where the drama stands. What do you think about the payment offer? Would you have voiced it anyway? Will Platinum raise the bar or stick with a new replacement? Hop in the booth, collect your chump change (with a bonus of clout) and voice your concerns below!
UPDATE (10/20/2022) A report came out from Bloomberg suggesting that multiple parties can vouch for Taylor being offered a MUCH higher rate of $4000 PER recording session for this project. In which case the total sum would be over $20,000 making Taylor a horrible liar that probably pushed voice artists back ten years. However, neither Nintendo nor Platinum have made an official statement debunking her claims yet, so this is still third party information and I wouldn't recommend grabbing a pitchfork until we hear from one of them.
