A week ago, 34-year-old British actor, Ed Skrein, tweeted that he would be playing Major Ben Daimio, an Asian-American character in Mike Mignola’s Hellboy comics.
The news was met with complaints that Hollywood was once again ‘whitewashing’ an Asian character. Following this, Ed Skrein has withdrawn from the upcoming Hellboy reboot.
He took to Twitter to announce his decision. An excerpt from his message reads, “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.”
The studio will now focus on re-casting the role of the former U.S. Marine. David Harbour plays the titular character in Hellboy, which will be directed by Neil Marshall, and also stars Ian McShane and Milla Jovovich.