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The voice actress of Bayonetta, the namesake of the globally popular video game, has pleaded with fans to boycott the game after revealing they offered to pay her an “insulting” amount.
Hellena Taylor, from the U.K., posted an emotional video to her social media account explaining that she would not be voicing the character in the third game in the series after she hit back when they offered her only $4,000 for the role.
“As an actor I trained for a total of seven-and-a-half years – three years at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts with voice coach Barbara Berkery, and four-and-a-half years with the legendary Larry Moss in Los Angeles,” she said.
“And what did they think this was worth? What did they offer to pay me? The final offer to do the whole game — as a buyout, flat rate — was $4,000. This is an insult to me, the amount of time that I took to work on my talent, and everything that I have given to this game and the fans.”
Taylor also added that the franchise has made “approximately $450 million” so far, without including merchandise sales. Experienced video-game voice actors reportedly earn between $200-$350 an hour regardless of the sales.
“Boycott this game”
“I am asking the fans to boycott this game and instead spend the money that you would have spent on this game, donate it to charity,” Taylor said.
In another video, Taylor said, “I decided to do it to stand up in solidarity with people all over the world who do not get paid properly for their talents,” and added that she has suffered from depression and anxiety as a result, even becoming suicidal at one point.
The video game itself follows the story of an “umbra witch”, previously voiced by Taylor, who goes on a quest to battle the forces of Heaven and Hell, eventually killing God. The game has received praise for its empowerment of the main character and criticism for its hypersexualization.
Following Taylor’s announcement, creator Hedeki Kamiya said on Twitter: “sad and deplorable about the attitude of untruth. That’s what all I can tell now.” Nintendo, the series publisher, and developer of the titles Platinum Games have not responded.
Taylor did not immediately reply to Fortune’s request for comment.
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