Hellboy film accused of ‘whitewashing’

NEW YORK — Another Hollywood film has found itself facing a social-media outcry over the casting of a white actor in a role that was originally Asian-American.

British actor Ed Skrein this week joined the cast of the Hellboy reboot Rise of the Blood Queen, 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 story. Daimio’s grandmother was a Japanese Imperial assassin in the Second World War.

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,” actor Cindy Chu wrote on Twitter.

The film’s distributor, Lionsgate, declined to comment.

A spokesman for Skrein did not respond to queries on Wednesday.

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, a Netflix release, the Japanese manga adaptation Death Note, drew criticism for transferring a Japanese story to Seattle without any Asian actors.

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

When the $110-million-US film flopped in April, Paramount Pictures said the casting conversation affected reviews, and thus its disappointing box-office debut.

Studies have shown that diverse casts often lead to better box office.

However, the top 100 films of 2015, a University of Southern California study found, contained not one leading role for an AsianAmerican.

That has led to increasing frustration for many prominent AsianAmerican actors.