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Back in September 2021, the original voice actor for Bayonetta, Hellena Taylor, put up a string of tweets that seemed to suggest that she would not return to voice the titular character in Bayonetta 3.
Taylor has been the voice of Bayonetta for the English version of the game since the series made its debut back in 2010. At that time, she could not outright say whether or not she was returning for Bayonetta 3 due to being "bound by (a) confidentiality agreement." However, when a fan said to her that they couldn't imagine Bayonetta without her voice work, Taylor responded with an rather clear "Well, you might have to."
This week, Game Informer started to share information from their cover story, which is all about Bayonetta 3. Part of that coverage (shared via Nintendo Everything) includes an interview with game director Yusuke Miyata. Miyata says that due to "overlapping circumstances," Hellena Taylor had to be replaced by Jennifer Hale.
"Various overlapping circumstances made it difficult for Hellena Taylor to reprise her 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. 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."
