Full Series Catherine Taber and Grey DeLisle, who did a better job as Padme?

I like both of them very much, their other SW VA and non SW works are very awesome, especially Taber's Vette and DeLisle's female BH in SWTOR. As Padme I like DeLisle a bit better because Taber's voice is a little too sweet and soft for Padme.

 

I think I like the sweet and soft of Taber's voice, BUT I feel the seasons that had DeLisle as Padme, had more Padme action in them. If it could all be done over (time machine style) I'd prefer the better writing and stories with Taber.

 

Grey DeLisle by a long shot.

 

Grey. It's not even close.

 

Taber is just like Eckstein in that she's just talking. It's not like Grey, Dee, JAT, Abercrombie, etc. who actually have to change their voice to match a character/performance. Taber worked as Mission for me because that was the first performance of hers that I knew of. But then I watch TCW and get stuck thinking "...this is Mission Vao..." And even more so if I play TOR and see Vette, yet another blue twi'lek with Taber's voice.

I see the Detours trailer and see Leia and think, this is Padme-Mission-Vette...

Props to her enthusiasm for Star Wars, but her performances have just jarred me straight out of taking the character for granted since Mission.

 

Grey is very good at voice different characters in one series.

 

Grey

 

Grey no question.

 

Grey DeLisle didn't do a lot as Padme, but what she did was good. She actually sounded a lot like Natalie Portman in most scenes.

Cat Taber started out badly, almost as if Padme was being repositioned as some sort of squeaky Disney Princess. That would have been in line with the early Padme episodes (Bombad Jedi, Blue Shadow Virus ) where she was basically written as such, but in later episodes, particularly the S3 political ones, the plots were much more mature. Taber's voice acting didn't keep up, IMO. She still sounded like a teenage girl. She took her cues from the weakest parts of Natalie Portman's performance in AOTC (such as her weak, tinny voice in the deleted Senate scene).

However, she enormously improved her performance for The Wrong Jedi, which has me optimistic for the Clovis arc. She brought back the slightly husky quality to Natalie Portman's voice, which Grey DeLisle didn't do. DeLisle has that range, but she didn't use it. Now Padme actually sounds like an adult woman and very close to how she is in ROTS.

So yeah. Taber wins the day by a single overstyled hair's breadth. That's Taber as Padme, mind. Don't get me started on Leia in TFU...