Ed Skrein leaves the film following controversial casting that would have had him playing a historically Asian role
Actor Ed Skrein — most famous for his work as the villain in “Deadpool” — has left the production of the upcoming “Hellboy” reboot following his controversial casting in a historically Asian role. Skrein would have played Major, a character originally portrayed as an Asian-American in the Mike Mignola comic-book series that serves as the source material for the franchise. There was a broad and sustained negative reaction to the announcement of Skrein’s casting earlier this month, much of it pointing to similar cases of whitewashing Asian characters in scifi/comic-book properties. Two recent instances, “Doctor Strange” and “The Ghost in the Shell” came up repeatedly. In response to the criticism, Skrein released a statement earlier today announcing that he would no longer be playing Daimio in the forthcoming film. It reads: In response, representatives for Lionsgate, the studio producing the film, “Ed came to us and felt very strongly about this. We fully support his unselfish decision.” The statement continues, “It was not our intent to be insensitive to issues of authenticity and ethnicity, and we will look to recast the part with an actor more consistent with the character in the source material.”
