Angelina Jolie is fighting back after critics slammed her for what they call an emotionally abusive and cruel casting strategy the Hollywood star allegedly used during one of her most recent films. Reports indicate that many critics and viewers think that Angelina’s upcoming Cambodian film, First They Killed My Father is both exploitative and downright insensitive.
Apparently, the film’s casting directors placed money in front of disadvantaged children and asked them what they needed the money for before taking it away to elicit a reaction. They played the same game with children from orphanages, circuses and slum schools while searching for an actor to play the lead role of Luong Ung, the author of the memoir on which the film is based.
The director would then pretend to catch the child and the child would have to come up with a lie as to why they took the money. Many critics lashed out at Angelina and her film crew for the game’s seemingly exploitive nature. They say that the casting strategy might potentially retrigger deep trauma for the purpose of realistic acting. The game was reportedly based on Ung’s real-life experience.
And now Angelina Jolie is fighting back, saying that the audition scene had been taking out of context. She says that there were guardians, parents and doctors present during the entire filming process.
Angelina said in a statement, “Every measure was taken to ensure the safety, comfort and well-being of the children on the film starting from the auditions through production to the present. 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. 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.”
For Angelina Jolie though, it seems that she just can’t catch a break with the press these days. The Hollywood actress has been fighting hard to repair her tarnished reputation after announcing her divorce from Brad Pitt last year. Since then, many have pointed their fingers at the actress for the nasty smear campaign against Brad Pitt in the media earlier this year. If that weren’t enough, the actor also said that his wife has “no self-regulating mechanism” in a scathing attack on her. In the meantime, don’t forget to check back with CDL for all the latest news on Angelina Jolie right here.
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