Daniel Dae Kim praises Ed Skrein for dropping out of Hellboy amid whitewashing outcry

Daniel Dae Kim is happy to give credit where credit’s due.

In an exclusive statement to The Hollywood Reporter, Kim confirmed that he is joining the cast of the Hellboy reboot and thanked Ed Skrein for stepping aside amid a whitewashing controversy to allow a culturally appropriate actor to take on the role.

“I applaud the producers and, in particular, Ed Skrein for championing the notion that Asian characters should be played by Asian or Asian American actors,” Kim said in his statement to THR. “He could not have addressed the issue more elegantly and I remain indebted to him for his strength of character.”

Kim will be portraying Major Ben Daimio, a military officer who turns into a jaguar when angry, a character who is Japanese American in Mike Mignola’s Hellboy comics.

“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 on Twitter when announcing his decision to bow out of the role. “I feel it is important to honor and respect that. Therefore, I have decided to step down so the role can be cast appropriately.”

Kim is no stranger to casting and contract controversy related, in part, to race and ethnicity — he and costar Grace Park reportedly left Hawaii 5-0 due to contract disputes which involved them making less than their white costars.

The Hellboy reboot has been generating a lot of buzz — the first look at the new titular character hit the internet on Wednesday.

Read the original Hollywood Reporter piece here.