Jennifer Hale has been a princess, a space commander, an announcer, a superhero, a Jedi, and so much more. While fans may not be able to recognize her in person, Jennifer Hale’s voice is distinct and found in a ton of places that fans may not even realize. She’s done on-camera work but has mainly focused on voice acting roles, lending her voice to some of the most iconic video game characters ever. One of her most notable roles is female Commander Shepard of Mass Effect, who players can become all over again in Mass Effect: Legendary Edition.
Hale has proven herself as a talented voice-over artist, having been in video game and television voice-over work since 1994. Her most recent video game role will be in the upcoming Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart as the female lombax, Rivet. A fan on Twitter recently pointed out that Hale has a Spotify page with two songs listed, and neither one is directly connected to her television or video game voiceover work. In fact, the songs were only listed in 2020. Clearly, Jennifer Hale’s incredible talent can be found in a variety of places, especially these notable roles.
Jennifer Hale’s History with Star Wars
Hale’s voice can be found in a variety of different Star Wars media, from animated shows to video games to even an appearance in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. While some of her Star Wars work has been more minor roles, both in video games and television, she’s also known for her portrayal of Bastila Shan in BioWare’s highly-acclaimed RPG Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Bastila is a key character in Knights of the Old Republic and can even make an appearance in the sequel game, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords.
Another crucial part of Star Wars lore is the Clone Wars, which have been explored a few different ways in the media. Hale lends her voice to Aayla Secura in the Cartoon Network show Star Wars: The Clone Wars as well as other video games featuring the Force-sensitive character. Aayla’s voice can be heard in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker as Rey draws power from the Jedi who came before her preceding her battle with Darth Sidious.
Jennifer Hale’s Other Well-Known Video Game Roles
Hale has an extensive history in video game voice acting as well as television roles, some of which overlap. For example, Hale was the voice of Miss Keane and Princess Morbucks in The Powerpuff Girls and reprises her roles for the video games and The Powerpuff Girls Movie. Though the game hasn’t come out yet, her performance as Rivet in Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart is sure to be memorable thanks to the large fanbase dedicated to the franchise.
Another franchise with a massive, dedicated fanbase is Mass Effect, which most recently released the Mass Effect: Legendary Edition. Hale is the voice of female Commander Shepard, the protagonist that players get to know and love throughout Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, and Mass Effect 3. Female Commander Shepard is highly regarded in the video game community as a respected and powerful female character, though Mass Effect’s marketing didn’t always give her the attention she deserved.
Jennifer Hale’s Singing Roles
In addition to her numerous voice-acting roles across animated media, Hale has also sung for quite a few different roles. In Scooby-Doo and the Witch’s Ghost, she plays Thorn, the lead singer of the band The Hex Girls, and provides her singing voice to the role as well. She’s also got a pretty long history with Disney as the voice of not one, but two princesses: Cinderella and Aurora.
Hale has voiced Cinderella and Aurora in various Disney productions, including Ralph Breaks the Internet and the Cinderella movie sequels. Her singing voice has been utilized for Aurora and Cinderella on a few different occasions, and she even took on the roles for Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. Beyond singing for some of her acting gigs, Hale also has two songs on Spotify titled “Never” and “Sea of Stars.”
Though it’s not the norm for her, Hale also recorded the audiobook for Christopher Paolini’s To Sleep in a Sea of Stars. It’s clear from her extensive repertoire that Jennifer Hale is a versatile voice actor and can be found even in the most unlikely of characters. She’s a successful voice actress who also has a great singing voice, so if there’s anything Jennifer Hale can’t do, it’s probably not related to voice acting.
Mass Effect: Legendary Edition is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
