'Hellboy' casting prompts backlash over 'whitewashing'

NEW

YORK (AP) -- A Hollywood film yet again finds itself responding to a social-media outcry over the casting of a white actor in a role that was originally Asian-American.

British actor Ed Skrein earlier this week joined the cast of the "Hellboy" reboot "Rise of the Blood Queen," which is to be the third film in the comic adaptation franchise previously helmed by Guillermo del Toro. The character, Ben Daimio, is Japanese-American in Mike Mignola's "Hellboy" comics and his heritage is central to his backstory. Daimio's grandmother was a Japanese Imperial assassin in World War II.

Many objected to the role not going to an Asian-American actor and called it another example of Hollywood "whitewashing" Asian characters. "I guess they want this to fail," said actress Cindy Chu on Twitter.

The film's distributor, Lionsgate, declined comment. A representative for Skrein didn't respond to queries Wednesd ay.

The backlash follows previous controversies including the castings of Emma Stone as a half-Hawaiian, half-Chinese Air Force pilot in Cameron Crowe's "Aloha" and Scarlett Johansson as the cyborg protagonist in the Japanese anime remake "Ghost in the Shell." This week's Netflix release, the Japanese manga adaptation "Death Note" also drew criticism for transferring a Japanese story to Seattle without any Asian act or s.

Though Masamune Shirow, director of the original "Ghost in the Shell," defended Johansson's casting, many lambasted the choice.