Marvel's "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." actress Chloe Bennet says she had to change her name because Tinseltown is "racist" and producers "wouldn't cast me with a last name that made them uncomfortable," Sky News reported.
The 25-year-old changed her surname from Wang to Bennet after struggling to get roles early in her career, telling The Star of Toronto in 2014 that within days of doing so she landed her first big acting role on TV series "Nashville."
"I was having trouble booking things with my last name," she said at the time.
She talked about the switch again in an Instagram post about British actor Ed Skrein, who stepped down from his role in "Hellboy" after his casting prompted claims of whitewashing.
Replying to a fan's comment, Bennet said, "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."
"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," she said.
Paying tribute to Skrein, Bennet posted a screengrab of his statement on Instagram and thanked him for "standing up against Hollywood's continuous insensitivity and flippant behavior towards the Asian-American community."
"There is no way this decision came lightly on your part, so thank-you for your bravery and genuinely impactful step forward," she added.
Skrein was cast in "Hellboy" as Major Ben Daimio, who is of Asian heritage in the comics that inspired the film.
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