What. Are you telling me that an Asian American character will be played by an actual Asian American actor? That's wild! Daniel Dae Kim will reportedly star as Major Ben Daimio in the upcoming Hellboy movie reboot.
Daniel Dae Kim in Talks to Replace Ed Skrein in 'Hellboy' Reboot (Exclusive)
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Kim is talks to step into the role of Ben Daimio in Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen. Ed Skrein, who was originally signed on to play Daimio, dropped out of the project after an outcry over his casting -- yet another Asian character gets the Hollywood whitewash! In Mike Mignola's original Hellboy comic books, Daimio is Japanese American. Ed Skrein is... not.
This is more like it. Kim, who recently made headlines with his very public exit from Hawaii Five-0 after seven seasons, will play the severely scarred former marine officer who works for the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense. Due to supernatural encounter in the field, Daimio has the ability to transform into a monstrous, jaguar-like creature under extreme stress.
Damn, Daniel!
When it was first announced that Skrein would play Daimio, everybody on social media lost their shit. That's no surprise. We've been down this road before. But what did surprise everybody was Skrein's unprecedented choice to withdraw from the role in an act of conscience and solidarity, citing a "moral" responsibility.
"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," Skrein said in a statement posted to Twitter. "I feel it is important to honour and respect that. Therefore I have decided to step down so the role can be cast appropriately."
In turn, Hellboy's producers supported Skrein's decision to exit the role, and promised to recast the part "with an actor more consistent with the character in the source material."
In the spirit of standing up for fairness, it seems fitting that the actor turned out to be Daniel Dae Kim. Kim and Hawaii Five-0 co-star Grace Park left the long-running CBS series earlier this year over a salary dispute, because the network reportedly refused to pay them as much as their white co-stars.
Kim will make a badass big-screen Ben Daimio. It's just a shame that at least one of those signature chiseled cheekbones will likely be obscured the character's horrific facial scar. It's gonna look gnarly. And awesome.
More here: Daniel Dae Kim to Replace Ed Skrein in 'Hellboy' Reboot
