On August 21, Ed Skrein happily took to Twitter to share that he had been cast as Ben Daimio in the upcoming David Harbour-led "Hellboy" reboot. In the original Mike Mignola comic books, Ben Daimio is a Japanese-American and therein lied the problem.
A full week of whitewashing backlash later, Skrein once again took to Twitter to announce that he was stepping down from the role "so the role can be cast appropriately." As of press time, his note is still pinned to the top of his Twitter feed. The actor admitted that at first, he was unaware of Ben Daimio's mixed Asian heritage.
He also shared that he was aware of how important it was for people that the character would be represented "in a culturally accurate way."
Now that Skrein has vacated the role, producers are committed to finding an actor who would best fit the role of Ben Daimio. They said in a statement following Skrein's departure that they weren't intentionally being "insensitive to issues of authenticity and ethnicity" when they cast Skrein. The good news now, though, is that they are now one step closer to casting a more culturally compatible actor to the character.
'Hawaii Five-O' star might play the role of Ben Daimio
The newest actor to be linked to the upcoming "Hellboy" reboot is "Hawaii Five-O" star Daniel Dae Kim.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Kim is already in negotiations to play the role of Ben Daimio, which Ed Skrein recently vacated.
It's only fitting that the 49-year old actor, who rose to fame as Jin-Soo Kwon in "Lost" and Chin Ho Kelly in "Hawaii Five-O," would land the role, as just this June, he stepped away from the CBS procedural after seeking equal pay to the series' stars, Alex O'Loughlin and Scott Caan.
Kim and his co-star, Grace Park's departure from the series came as a shock to viewers, and CBS insisted that they tried hard to keep them on the show by offering salary increases. According to Vulture, Kim was not swayed, as he said in a statement, "it’s possible to be grateful for the opportunity and have respect for your colleagues and still maintain a steadfast sense of your self-worth."
Reboot rounding up its stars
It only makes sense that production would immediately find a replacement for Ed Skrein, as filming is set to begin this fall.
The "Hellboy" reboot will be directed by "Game of Thrones" helmer Neil Marshall and will be based on the original Mike Mignola comic books. Earlier reports revealed that the reboot will be darker and scarier than the previous Guillermo del Toro films. There's no release date set for the film just yet.
