Actor Ed Skrein has given up up his role in the new “Hellboy” reboot after complaints of “whitewashing” due to the fact that the character he would portray is Asian in the comic books.
“Last week it was announced that I would be playing Major Ben Daimio in the upcoming Hellboy reboot,” Skrein wrote in a statement.
“It is clear that representing this character in a culturally accurate way holds significance for people . . . Therefore I have decided to step down so that the role can be cast appropriately.”
Skrein, who played the villain in “Deadpool,” claimed he wasn’t aware of the character’s ethnicity when he took the role.
Some on social media had claimed Skrein was taking a role away from an Asian colleague.