Actor Ed Skrein put his beliefs where his money was on Monday, announcing that he's giving up his role in the upcoming "Hellboy" reboot due to ethnic issues surrounding the part.
Skrein had been cast as Major Ben Daimio, a Japanese-American former Marine and employee of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense.
In a statement, Skrein said he was unaware of his character's ethnic heritage and was steppng down "so the role can be cast appropriately." He noted that coming himself from a mixed-heritage family, the issue was important to him, but he was "sad to leave 'Hellboy.'"
Here's the statement Skrein shared on Twitter.
— Ed Skrein (@edskrein) August 28, 2017
It looks as if Skrein will get his wish.
"Ed came to us and felt very strongly about this," the producers of the film said in a statement obtained by The Hollywood Reporter. "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."
Skrein is an English actor who played Daario Naharis in three episodes of "Game of Thrones," and played Francis Freeman/Ajax in 2016's "Deadpool."
David Harbour, who plays Police Chief Jim Hopper in Netflix's "Stranger Things," is playing the lead role of Hellboy in the reboot. The film, "Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen," is expected to come out in 2018.
