Hollywood Casting Directors: Ed Skrein Dropping Out of Hellboy A “Wake-Up Call”

When Ed Skrein was first cast in Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen, it felt like yet another entry in a long, disheartening series of casting choices by Hollywood that whitewashed Asian characters and gave the roles to white actors. Scarlett Johansson in Ghost in the Shell, Emma Stone in Aloha, and the Death Note remake had all been such disappointments in the area of representation, and Skrein’s casting as Japanese-American character Ben Daimio felt like a continuation of that.

But by stepping down from the role in response the wave of online criticism, Skrein gave Hollywood casting directors what they call a “wake-up call.” EW reports that after Hellboy producers supported his departure, casting directors took notice. They quote one named Russell Boast, who said, “I think [his decision] will resonate with many actors who have never thought about standing up and saying they don’t want to be a part of this whitewashing game that’s being played.”

Up until now, when confronted with critiques citing whitewashing in their films, just about everybody in Hollywood has made defensive excuses. Directors like Ridley Scott, actors like Scarlett Johansson and producers like Roy Lee all try to shift blame to somebody or something else, like the financial realities of Hollywood, to defend their erasure of minority voices. Boast went on to say this: