Henry Golding has responded to accusations of casual racism in his film The Gentlemen.

The actor appeared in the Guy Ritchie gangster movie alongside the likes of Matthew McConaughey and Hugh Grant, taking on the role of Dry Eye.

• READ MORE: Henry Golding: “People don’t see me as fully British”

However, the film was accused of racism, particularly in one line voiced by Grant’s character Fletcher in which he puts on a faux-Chinese accent.

However, Golding has defended the film, telling NME: “If you think gangsters aren’t going to be racist and go down to the lowest derogatory terminologies, I don’t know what kind of world you live in.

“In this day and age of being PC, do you think that restricts art or creation? Because we have to pander to people who perhaps don’t want racist words to be on screen or projected from someone’s mouth; but in reality it’s what happens. Are gangsters going to be nice to each other just because they don’t want to hurt each other’s feelings? I don’t think so.

“But of course there’s boundaries,” he added. “And I felt as an Asian and as a man, those boundaries were never stepped over and it was always a safe set. If there is ever a time there isn’t a safe set, you know, the hand goes up and a discussion is made.”

During his interview, Golding also spoke about his experience shooting new film Snake Eyes and his role playing the titular commando in the G.I. Joe reboot.

“Snake Eyes has just blown me away,” he said. “They’ve recreated G.I. Joe into something very cool and a far throw from what we’ve seen thus far on the big screen. I think there’s room for many spin-offs, to be honest. This, I think, will be the launch of a brand-new franchise.”