Developer PlatinumGames has revealed that Bayonetta 3‘s titular protagonist will be seeing a new voice actor. Jennifer Hale is taking over voicing Bayonetta from the character’s original voice actor, Hellena Taylor.
Bayonetta 3 director Yusuke Miyata revealed that Hale is the new voice actor for the game’s protagonist in an interview with Game Informer, caught by Nintendo Everything. While not providing too many details about why the change was made, simply stating that it was because of “overlapping circumstances”, Miyata praised Hale’s performance.
“Various overlapping circumstances made it difficult for Hellena Taylor to reprise her role,” said Miyata in the interview. “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. 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.”
Taylor has made cryptic comments about not voicing Bayonetta in the third game in the past, stating that she wasn’t at liberty to elaborate because of a confidentiality agreement.
It is worth noting that the Japanese voice actor for Bayonetta in Bayonetta 3 remains unchanged, with Atsuko Tanaka reprising the role.
Bayonetta 3 is set to release on Nintendo Switch on October 28, and the download weighs in at 15GB.