Chloe Bennet, who is most famous for her role as Skye/Daisy Johnson/Quake in Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD has sparked a major social media debate by suggesting she changed her surname to avoid racial prejudice.
After posting a piece in praise of Ed Skrein (Deadpool’s Francis/Ajax) who recently stepped down from the Hellboy remake after discovering his character Major Ben Daimio should of been mixed Asian-American in race, which also re-ignited the discussion regarding Hollywood ‘white-washing’, Bennett found herself flooded with comments from trolls who pointed out she herself had changed her surname from ‘Wang’ to ‘Bennett’ before commencing her acting career.
In response, the Marvel star produced an impassioned defence, posting: “Changing my last name doesn’t change the fact that my BLOOD is half Chinese, that I lived in China, speak Mandarin, or that I was culturally raised both American and Chinese.” She continued, adding,
“It means I had to pay my rent, and Hollywood is racist and wouldn’t cast me with a last name that made them uncomfortable.” Her damning comments ended that, “I’m doing everything I can, with the platform I have, to make sure no one has to change their name again, just so they can get work. So kindly love, f— off.”
Bennet received widespread support from her fans against the original poster, who subsequently deleted their comment.
Bennet will star in Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD fifth season which will air in late 2017. To hear more about the Hellboy white-washing controversy, check out the video below:
