Daniel Dae Kim has praised Hellboy producers for recasting his character
In a Hollywood Reporter interview, Daniel Dae Kim said he was “grateful” for the producers of Hellboy recasting his character.
Back in 2017, it was revealed that Ed Skrein would play Majoy Ben Daimo in the Hellboy remake.
However, Skrein gave up his role as Major Ben Daimo to not “obscure ethnic minority stories and voices in the arts,” after learning that the character is Asian-American in the original comics.
The part was then given to Kim, who “applauded” Skrein for his decision.
Now, talking to THR, the former Hawaii Five-O actor said he is also grateful for the producers for accepting the casting change.
“It’s an important thing to take action, and what Neil and the producers did was take action,” he said. “I am a direct beneficiary of that, but I think all of us benefit by having a role that’s intended for an Asian being played by an Asian. So I’m grateful for him and the producers, who did the right thing, ultimately.”
“I think in [this] universe anything is possible — you can be white, you can be a demon, you could be black, you could be Asian, you could be Latinx, anything,” Kim added. “And anytime that you have something that broadens our perceptions of what could be, it changes possibilities and the messages of that possibility.”
Hellboy hits cinemas on 12 April 2019.
