People call out the UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador after it's revealed how casting directors for her film 'First They Killed My Father' set up a 'disturbing' game to cast Cambodian orphans for the movie.
- Jul 28, 2017
AceShowbiz - Casting call for Angelina Jolie's movie "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" has drawn criticism. Vanity Fair, which features the actress/director in its cover story, recently detailed how children were cast for the Netflix film.
According to the magazine, casting directors "set up a game, rather disturbing in its realism" in order to find the movie's young lead. "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," it described.
Jolie told the publication, "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." Jolie tearfully recalled, "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."
While the method was meant to draw "authentic connection to pain," people find the game mean-spirited. "Angelina Jolie is crazy. What a cruel psychological game to play with impoverished children," Denizcan Targaryen tweeted.
Angelina Jolie is crazy. What a cruel psychological game to play with impoverished children. pic.twitter.com/iAEUhINBui
— Denizcan Targaryen (@MrFilmkritik) July 26, 2017
Jessica Roy wrote, "angelina jolie cast her latest movie by taunting poor children with cash." She added in another post, "angelina jolie collaborated with the abusive, rights-violating cambodian army for her latest film."
angelina jolie cast her latest movie by taunting poor children with cash https://t.co/vXRxnorU4R
— Jessica Roy (@JessicaKRoy) July 26, 2017
angelina jolie collaborated with the abusive, rights-violating cambodian army for her latest film https://t.co/mm7kmyUBRO
— Jessica Roy (@JessicaKRoy) July 27, 2017
Harriet Fitch Little wasn't amused by the casting method either. "I've previously held the minority opinion that Jolie is quite good, smart and careful re Cambodia, but...well...this whole article is a mess," she commented.
I've previously held the minority opinion that Jolie is quite good, smart and careful re Cambodia, but...well...this whole article is a mess
— Harriet Fitch Little (@HarrietFL) July 27, 2017
Shanelle Little thinks that the game was "traumatizing" the children. "Why in the HELL were Angelina Jolie and Co traumatizing poor cambodian children for 'casting'? How is this applause worthy?" she asked.
Why in the HELL were Angelina Jolie and Co traumatizing poor cambodian children for "casting"? How is this applause worthy? https://t.co/79XYK1eRXK
— Shanelle Little (@ShanelleLittle) July 26, 2017
"First They Killed My Father" is based on a Cambodian genocide memoir of Cambodian human rights activist as well as Jolie's friend, Loung Ung. It tells the story of the massacre in Cambodia by the Khmer Rouge communist party between 1975-1979. The purge killed more than two million people out of seven million population, including Ung's parents and two sisters.
Directed by Jolie, the movie will be released on Netflix in September.
