Angelina Jolie Responds To Backlash Over Controversial Kids’ Casting Process

Angelina Jolie was not playing psychological games when she cast Cambodian children for her Netflix film.

Last week, Jolie received intense backlash from the netizens following her interview with Vanity Fair where she admitted that they used a different approach in casting children for “First They Killed My Father.”

During the auditions, Jolie and her casting director made a scene where they put money on a table and asked the child to think about how they would use it. If the child would snatch it, the director would then pretend to capture the child, and the latter would lie to excuse herself from what she has done. Unfortunately, many were disgusted with the process, especially considering that the children were already impoverished.

READ: Angelina Jolie criticized for her ways in casting Cambodian children for her Netflix film

Jolie explained to The Huffington Post (via Vulture) that the reports were misleading and the negative reactions were upsetting. “I am upset that a pretend exercise in an improvisation, from an actual scene in the film, has been written about as if it was a real scenario,” Jolie explained. “The suggestion that real money was taken from a child during an audition is false and upsetting. I would be outraged myself if this had happened.”

Jolie added that they took every measure to ensure the children’s safety, comfort and well-being. The parents and guardians of the kids, along with their partner NGOs, whose job was to look after the children, were on the set every day. Jolie said she and her team did everything they could to keep anyone from getting hurt when they filmed the movie, which recreates one of the most painful parts of their country’s history.

“The point of this film is to bring attention to the horrors children face in war, and to help fight to protect them,” Jolie went on.

Jolie’s Netflix original movie, “First They Killed My Father,” is inspired by Loung Ung’s 2000 memoir of the Khmer Rouge genocide. During the era, Ung’s parents and two of her siblings died along with a quarter of the country’s population, which was estimated to be two million, Vanity Fair reported. The controversial scene that many found disgusting was an actual experience of the main character and was only used for casting the potential child to play Ung.

What’s your take on Jolie’s explanation about the controversial casting? Drop a comment below.