An actor cast for the upcoming "Hellboy" reboot film has stepped down after the film faced criticism of whitewashing.
Ed Skrein was cast to play Major Ben Daimio from Mike Mignola's comics.
But in those comics, Daimio is Japanese-American. Skrein is English and Austrian-Jewish.
After a few days of criticism, including some fans calling for a boycott of the film, Skrein announced he would leave the "Hellboy" cast.
Hollywood has faced more and more pushback for casting white actors in nonwhite roles.
Scarlett Johansson was cast to play the leading role in "Ghost in the Shell," a film based on the Japanese franchise. Disney caught some heat for casting British-Indian actress Naomi Scott to play Princess Jasmine in the live-action remake of "Aladdin," rather than an Arab actress.
In Marvel's "Doctor Strange," screenwriter C. Robert Cargill rewrote the character of the Ancient One — originally an old and arguably racially stereotypical Asian man from Tibet — as a Celtic-inspired white woman, eventually played by Tilda Swinton, who's Scottish.
On his departure, Skrein said, "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" [sic].
