Hellboy’s Daniel Dae Kim on Asian actors being called a ‘challenge’ and his gratitude to Ed Skrein
- Kim says casting directors who think that Asian actors are not ‘expressive’ are just operating off stereotypes
- The Lost star, who plays Captain Ben Daimio in new Hellboy reboot, also talks about his friendship with white actor Ed Skrein, who was first cast in the role
Daniel Dae Kim is going to be one of the first Asians to feature big in a Hollywood superhero film. And he couldn’t help but seek out and personally thank the man who made it possible.
Kim plays grizzled military man Captain Ben Daimio in the new Hellboy reboot. The film, which comes out in the US on April 12 and in Hong Kong on June 20, sees Kim co-star alongside David Harbour (Stranger Things) under the direction of Neil Marshall (Game of Thrones).
But the Lost actor wasn’t the first choice for Daimio.
Ed Skrein, a white British actor, was tapped to play the role on August 21, 2017. But Daimio was originally written in the comics as a man of mixed Asian heritage. Just a week later, Skrein announced on Twitter that he had been “unaware” of the character’s background and that he “must do what I feel is right”, and stepped down.
Producer Lloyd Levin also acknowledged the initial casting was a “mistake”, and that when they saw Kim on the list of possible replacements, “we went pretty much directly to him.”