Just last week, we reported that Deadpool star Ed Skrein had joined David Harbour, Milla Jovovich, Ian McShane and Sasha Lane in Neil Marshall’s Hellboy, a rated R reboot of the franchise that Guillermo del Toro first brought to the big screen.
Shortly after accepting the role, Skrein has left the project.
The reasoning behind Skrein’s decision? He had been cast to play Major Ben Daimio, a character of mixed Asian heritage. In the wake of the news hitting the net, many expressed their displeasure about a white actor once again being cast to play a non-white character; as it turns out, Skrein agrees that he’s wrong for the part.
“I accepted the role unaware that the character in the original comics was of mixed Asian heritage,” Skrein wrote in a statement on Twitter today. “There has been intense conversation and understandable upset since that announcement, and I must do what I feel is right.”
He continued, “It is clear that representing this character in a culturally accurate way holds significance for people, and that to neglect this responsibility would continue a worrying tendency to obscure ethnic minority stories and voices in the Arts. I feel it is important to honour and respect that. Therefore I have decided to step down so the role can be cast appropriately.”
Skrein’s full statement below…
— Ed Skrein (@edskrein) August 28, 2017
