Ed Skrein Steps Down From HELLBOY Role Amidst Whitewashing Controvery
In an unprecedented move, Deadpool star Ed Skrein has released a statement, announcing his exit from the Hellboy reboot after last week's whitewashing controversy. Lionsgate has also responded.
It was reported last week that Ed Skrein (Deadpool) had signed on to portray Major Benjamin Daimio, a traditionally Japanese character, in Lionsgate's upcoming Hellboy reboot. This latest casting was met with met with much criticism on the interwebs as it appeared as though Hollywood was whitewashing yet another Asian character, but now, in a surprising (and not to mention, unprecedented) move, Skrein himself has decided to exit the project.
He shared the news earlier this afternoon on his personal Twitter account and was quickly met with tons of praise online from peers and fans for being the first actor to publicly step out and leave a high-profile project in response to a whitewashing criticism.
Following Skrein's shocking announcement, Lionsgate released their own statement in full support of his decision. "Ed came to us and felt very strongly about this. We fully support his unselfish decision. 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."
Read Skrein's full statement below:
David Harbour (Stranger Things) is headlining the reboot with Neil Marshall (Game of Thrones) in the director's chair. Ian McShane (John Wick), Sasha Lane (American Honey) and Milla Jovovich (Resident Evil) have also joined the cast as Professor Broom, Alice Monaghan, and the Blood Queen, respectively.