• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Hellena Taylor (Voice of Bayonetta) Describes How She was Offered only $4,000 USD to Voice Her Again in Bayonetta 3.

Hardensoul

Gold Member
Yes.

I wasn't even thinking about Bayonetta 3 but now that this has turned into a day 1 buy from me because I started viewing more trailers after hearing this news, so if the plan was to help Bayonetta, it worked.

It will probably be the best selling Bayonetta in the franchise.
I only watch one trailer because I don't like to be spoiled by them. But I didn't realize it was new VA. But my attention was really more towards the action/combat.
 

Topher

Gold Member
Is Jennifer Hale going to say something about this?

If she is smart, no.

You can’t compare wages earned in a day to day ‘normal’ job, with the way artists are paid. They‘re work is generally patchy, sometimes with long periods of no work. No royalties are paid either.

Which is why the list of games/media that most voice actors perform in is usually quite extensive and they often handle multiple voices in the same game/episode/movie. That is true for even the most famous voice actors. So I keep going back to asking the question why isn't Hellena Taylor doing more work? She says she is broke, but she hasn't work as a voice actress in 8 years. I just find it strange that the voice of Bayonetta can't get work.
 
Last edited:

Rykan

Member
Interesting, do you think Jennifer Hale did it for $4000? Is there enough prestige in the role to forgo a decent payday?
Hard to say, really. The fact of the matter is that B3 introduces a new playable character, and it's currently unclear how much voice work we are talking about. She said it was 4k "For the entire game" but we simply don't know how much work that really is.

That said, It's pretty common for Hale to take on roles in "smaller" games. She was in No More Heroes 3 as well. It's important to keep in mind that that is the ballpark Bayonetta 3 is in. Contrary to her ridiculous claim at the start of the video, Bayonetta is not this super popular or profitable franchise.
 
Last edited:
I used to live next to a guy who did voiceovers for radio and TV, he got 500-1000 bucks for a single 30 second ad, and that was about 20 years ago. 4000 for an entire game seems incredibly low.
 

SmokedMeat

Gamer™
$4,000 seems like chump change for videogame voice work. I wonder what other voice actors get paid? Like the guy who does Kratos and has to say “Boy!” 26,000 times.
 

Topher

Gold Member
$4,000 seems like chump change for videogame voice work. I wonder what other voice actors get paid? Like the guy who does Kratos and has to say “Boy!” 26,000 times.

Christopher Judge. Talk about an iconic voice. His "indeed" line from Stargate still resonates. Dude has been TV and film for decades now. I doubt he is cheap. But I'd say the same thing about Jennifer Hale.
 
Last edited:

ManaByte

Gold Member
EJHcDg4.jpg
 
So here is what we know:

A voice Actress whose only major role is Bayonetta (who also, according to IMDB, hasn’t worked SINCE Bayo 2) claims she was offered 4 Grand for her reprisal of the role.

Platinum hires Jennifer Hale, a much more expensive voice actress who is very clearly pro VO Actor Rights and is part of a Voice Acting Union.

I will still wait for full information, but this doesn’t scream to me of “Platinum being cheap” but that Platinum was paying an actress exactly what she was worth.
 

hemo memo

Gold Member
So here is what we know:

A voice Actress whose only major role is Bayonetta (who also, according to IMDB, hasn’t worked SINCE Bayo 2) claims she was offered 4 Grand for her reprisal of the role.

Platinum hires Jennifer Hale, a much more expensive voice actress who is very clearly pro VO Actor Rights and is part of a Voice Acting Union.

I will still wait for full information, but this doesn’t scream to me of “Platinum being cheap” but that Platinum was paying an actress exactly what she was worth.
They didn’t officially denied it did they? Why would she lie about that exact amount which can be easily proven wrong? I side with the actress on this one.
 
Last edited:
$4K is absolutely lowballing for a character like Bayo, and the sassy british persona which Hellena DID "create".

Reminds me of the David Hayter stuff with MGSV. High on their own supply.

While 4k is a ridiculous slap to the face, she's not garnering any pity from me with the pettiness of this whole thing.


David didn't say anything about Kiefer or Kojima if my memory serves me right. What are you inferring here?
 
They didn’t officially denied it did they? Why would she lie about that exact amount which can be easily proven wrong? I side with the actress on this one.

They didn’t deny the money, but given what I just laid out - why would I side with the actress? She was paid what she was worth. They literally went to someone from a very well known voice acting union and someone who costs *far* more. If they wanted to be cheap, they wouldn’t have done that.
 

Gambit2483

Member
Japanese voice actors do not get paid very much. I'm sure if they demanded pay higher than the company was willing to pay, then they would be replaced too.

Also I don't understand why you keep lumping her in with Hayter. They didn't want Hayter. They did not ask him to do the role.
She was literally offered the job, and when she complained to Kamiya, they still kept the offer and even increased the money. She is the one that said no to the job, not the company, so why wouldn't they replace her?
They clearly didn't want her either. Its not like she demanded some crazy amount, its that they offered her a ludicrously LOW (sub $4k) amount to begin with. This is the 3rd entry of a multimillion dollar brand, Bayonetta is one of Patinum's biggest IPs and they basically offered her a ham sandwich and a coke. It's the idea that the are ok with ditching their long established English voice actors for whatever reason but treat their Japanese voice actors as gold.

I don't know how much Japanese voice actors in general get paid but I'm fairly certain they pay their most established ones fairly well, I.e. DBZ, One Piece etc
 
Last edited:

Neff

Member
It is like dealing with a child honestly. It must be a nightmare in meeting rooms.

He's mostly only like that on Twitter. At some point he got sick of people asking him the same boring questions over and over and created his current no-nonsense online persona. His old Tweets are shockingly civil and accommodating, he used to go out of his way to engage with fans until they abused his time. He requested people to search his history before they asked questions and they frequently ignored him. Can't blame him for getting fed up with it.

The ultimate insult will be if Jennifer Hale goes to the conventions and signings as 'the voice of Bayonetta' now.

If the convention circuit was that important to Taylor (and it sounds like it probably was), she should just have swallowed her pride and taken the gig, especially with nothing happening for her in acting since Smash.
 
Last edited:

Gambit2483

Member
Hard to say, really. The fact of the matter is that B3 introduces a new playable character, and it's currently unclear how much voice work we are talking about. She said it was 4k "For the entire game" but we simply don't know how much work that really is.
Do you think Troy Baker or Noland North would do the entire game for less than $4k (their initial offer)?

I don't know why people keep trying to lump this game in with some random hourly gig of a no-named game. Established actors doing Established roles aren't punching in time sheets.
 

Madflavor

Member
I don't know why people keep trying to lump this game in with some random hourly gig of a no-named game. Established actors doing Established roles aren't punching in time sheets.

At least this has been an interesting experiment in finding out how dumb and/or young a lot of people are on here. It's a weird situation to be in to have to explain to someone why Talent and Entertainment are highly valued in our society, and the concept of experienced performance artists not getting paid the same way an hourly burger flipper does. It'd feel more appropriate to have to explain that if a 5 year old asked.

If anything this sounds like what some people on here really take issue with is someone making in two days, what takes them 1-2 months to receive, and there's some underlying salt there.
 

Rykan

Member
Do you think Troy Baker or Noland North would do the entire game for less than $4k (their initial offer)?

I don't know why people keep trying to lump this game in with some random hourly gig of a no-named game. Established actors doing Established roles aren't punching in time sheets.
Go look up in how many games Troy Baker has been in and how many Nolan North has been in. She has been in just a few games and most of them have been as Bayonetta.

Bayonetta is a low selling franchise and the amount of work we're talking about is probably 16 hours or less.
 

radewagon

Member
Being able to put on a slightly posh English accent doesn’t make you talented.

$4000 was way too much.
The strength of her work on the first two games was not just doing a posh accent. I can say, with no hyperbole whatsoever, that her voice in the original games is literally the only thing that makes the garbage-tier camp even remotely bearable. The script for this game is such a nightmarishly stupid parade of ham-fisted dialogue that finding a way to deliver it while making it enjoyable, cool, and tonally pitch perfect is something that should not be taken lightly. She made the character work. Full stop.
 

Neff

Member
He demands people Tweet at him in Japanese and blocks anyone who Tweets at him in English.

I know, that's why I don't read him anymore. But he used to be enthusiastic and courteous with all of his fans, regardless of language.

Bayonetta games are not really a true trilogy!

The second game is entirely dependent on the first story-wise, and Kamiya has hinted that the third game will maximise what was built on in the first two.
 
Last edited:

ManaByte

Gold Member
It doesn't even matter how many receipts from industry experts us people coming to Hellena's defense bring to the table: GAF armchair experts with the corpo cock firmly down their throat will still insist "ThErE iS nO wAy To KnOw If ThIs Is TrUe!"

She was low-balled and forced out the role no matter which way we cut it.
I mean you can literally go to SAG-Aftra’s site where they list their scale (minimum accepted pay) numbers.
 
It doesn't even matter how many receipts from industry experts us people coming to Hellena's defense bring to the table: GAF armchair experts with the corpo cock firmly down their throat will still insist "ThErE iS nO wAy To KnOw If ThIs Is TrUe!"

She was low-balled and forced out the role no matter which way we cut it.

Meanwhile we have GAF white knights like you coming to her defense while having no idea if what is being stated is the full truth.

You are just as pathetic, mate.
 

Sgt.Asher

Member
I wasn't going to get it this month but now I am. Helena Taylor seems like an annoying twat, no wonder they didn't want to work with her.
 

Rykan

Member
It doesn't even matter how many receipts from industry experts us people coming to Hellena's defense bring to the table: GAF armchair experts with the corpo cock firmly down their throat will still insist "ThErE iS nO wAy To KnOw If ThIs Is TrUe!"

She was low-balled and forced out the role no matter which way we cut it.
And I'll continue to be skeptical as long as "EnTiRe GaME" continues to be used as a vague metric, or "iconic". "Entire Game" is meaningless. It doesn't say anything how much work is involved.

Oh and just because this "conspiracy" keeps getting suggested or hinted at: She's not "Forced" out of the role. She's a contractor. If you want someone else to voice your character in your next game, you just hire someone else. You don't have to send throwaway offers to previous hires.
 
No. They thought she could do nothing about it and it backfired and now reported at IGN and other websites which will lead Nintendo to probably think twice before doing business with them.

Not sure how it backfired. They offered someone what they thought they were worth, she refused, they got someone more expensive. I don’t think Nintendo will give a toss about her or the situation. Within a month everyone will have forgotten anyway.
 
Why this threads of drama get so much traction? A voice actor that was trying to find work and reprice her role got an offer that was not acceptable for her and she did not take the job, why is there an outrage??
Nintendo or platinum can offer how much they want if there is no one to take it they will raise the offer. Now my guess is they didn't want her and that was their way to tell her that we don't want you by offering something very low. But still I don't know how many days you need to work to finish a game like Bayonetta. Up to a month is good money.
There many people that work in big companies even in this forum, we are middle company and my boss made 4-5 millions last year.. why he didn't gave me some royalties, I worked hard and made sure he gets the millions... Wtf is that mentality. I got payed my salary and that's it. I have to make tik tok now I guess.
 

YCoCg

Member
Why?

It was a couple of days work, if that.
For a main character in a video game you're looking at least about two weeks worth of full day sessions. Most average out at a month with longer titles going up to six months. You're vastly underrating how much work goes into voicing.
 

hemo memo

Gold Member
Not sure how it backfired. They offered someone what they thought they were worth, she refused, they got someone more expensive. I don’t think Nintendo will give a toss about her or the situation. Within a month everyone will have forgotten anyway.
It backfired because when they outsource a game they don’t expect to get negative news unrelated to the quality of the game but the bad management of that studio and how they handle situations like this. Nintendo prioritizes their image. This isn’t a good look for them.
 
No. They thought she could do nothing about it and it backfired and now reported at IGN and other websites which will lead Nintendo to probably think twice before doing business with them.
Yes now Nintendo is crying because a clown is outraged. Come to real world, the HR and Marketing will get some more work this week and next week you won't even remember this case of abuse from the japanski..
No one is braking a long standing relationship for a clown on TikTok.
 

brian0057

Banned
No. They thought she could do nothing about it and it backfired and now reported at IGN and other websites which will lead Nintendo to probably think twice before doing business with them.
> Platinum offers a deal.
> She rejects it.
> Platinum raises the offer and presents it again.
> She rejects it again.
> Platinum says "fuck it" and hires someone else for, more than likely, a higher price. Thus, implying that it isn't just about money.
> Both the actress and Platinum are calling each other "liars", so who knows what is true or not.

You (and a lot of people) are hellbent on saying this is a problem and not what can literally be described as every monetary transaction in human history.
And both Nintendo and Platinum will continue to work (be it together or separate) while Hellena is burning those bridges.
 

gradient

Resident Cheap Arse
For a main character in a video game you're looking at least about two weeks worth of full day sessions. Most average out at a month with longer titles going up to six months. You're vastly underrating how much work goes into voicing.

You're pulling those numbers out of your arse.



Here Helena states that for Bayo 1 it took 4 days at one 4 hour session per day. So 16 hours spread across 4 days for a full game..
 
Why this threads of drama get so much traction? A voice actor that was trying to find work and reprice her role got an offer that was not acceptable for her and she did not take the job, why is there an outrage??
The “outrage” stems mostly from white knights trying desperately to prove how evil people are and how “hard working voice actors/actresses are not getting paid fairly” while most of the sane people are suggesting to wait for the full story and tell the whiny twitter slacktivists to piss off.

Nintendo or platinum can offer how much they want if there is no one to take it they will raise the offer. Now my guess is they didn't want her and that was their way to tell her that we don't want you by offering something very low. But still I don't know how many days you need to work to finish a game like Bayonetta. Up to a month is good money.
We don’t *know* if what was offered is “very low”. How many lines of text were there? How many days of recording would there be? How many hours of recording? If they didn’t want to work with her, they wouldn’t have offered her a contract. They went with a well known VO Activist who is part of a VO Union and costs significantly more, given what she was paid for previous roles in other games.

There many people that work in big companies even in this forum, we are middle company and my boss made 4-5 millions last year.. why he didn't gave me some royalties, I worked hard and made sure he gets the millions... Wtf is that mentality. I got payed my salary and that's it. I have to make tik tok now I guess.
I just don’t get it. Life is unfair. people will make more than you no matter what you do and what hard work you put in. Instead of crying/whining/bitching about it, these people should be putting in the effort and improving their own lives, not childishly demeaning others for what they think they deserve.
 
Top Bottom