Jolie criticised for playing cash-trick on poor Cambodian children during casting

Angelina Jolie said the filming process had a profound impact on the local cast and crew. Photo / AP

Angelina Jolie has come under fierce criticism for describing the casting of impoverished Cambodian children in her new film, in which she gave the children money and then pretended to take it away from them, awarding roles to those who looked the most upset.

Jolie, a noted humanitarian and United Nations Goodwill Ambassador, was speaking about the process of making her latest film, First They Killed My Father. The tale is a true-life story of Loung Ung and the horrors of Pol Pot's regime.

Jolie told Vanity Fair about the process of casting the children, travelling to orphanages, circuses and slum schools "seeking children who had experienced hardship".

The journalists writes: "In order to find their lead, to play young Loung Ung, the casting directors set up a game, rather disturbing in its realism: they put money on the table and asked the child to think of something she needed the money for, and then to snatch it away. The director would pretend to catch the child, and the child would have to come up with a lie."

Jolie continues: "Srey Moch [the girl ultimately chosen for the part] was the only child that stared at the money for a very, very long time, when she was forced to give it back, she became overwhelmed with emotion. All these different things came flooding back. When she was asked later what the money was for, she said her grandfather had died, and they didn't have enough money for a nice funeral."

The article notes that what it describes as an "authentic connection to pain" provided a powerful atmosphere on set. "There wasn't a person who was working on the movie who didn't have a personal connection," Jolie said.

"They weren't coming to do a job. They were walking in the exodus for the people they had lost in their family, and it was out of respect for them that they were going to recreate it. It completed something for them."

She told the journalist that some of the cast and crew had flashbacks and nightmares, and so a therapist was on set every day. She also mentioned how even bystanders were traumatised.

"When the Khmer Rouge came over the bridge, we had a people who really dropped to their knees and wailed. They were horrified to see them come back," she said.

The revelations about her casting methods were met with outrage on social media.

Jessica Roy, news editor for New York Magazine's The Cut section, noted: "Angelina Jolie cast her latest movie by taunting poor children with cash."

Another woman added: "Why in the hell were Angelina Jolie and co traumatising poor Cambodian children for 'casting'? How is this applause worthy?"

Jolie used the rest of the interview to explain how she began the project only after consulting widely with Cambodians, and approaching the Culture Ministry.

The 42-year-old, who has Cambodian citizenship after filming Tomb Raider in the country and falling in love with it, won over the Cambodian authorities.

They allowed her to shut down the town of Battambang for days, gave the film-makers permits to land in remote zones, and provided them with 500 officials from their actual army to play the Khmer Rouge army. About 3500 Cambodians participated as cast and crew, and the world premiere was held in Siem Reap, amid the ruins of Angkor Wat.

"It's not a poetic thing to say [this film] was made by the country," she said.

Jolie's representatives did not respond to a request for comment.