July 30, 2017

Angelina Jolie Says the ‘First They Killed My Father’ Audition Game Was Just ‘A Pretend Exercise in Improvisation’

A strange, disturbing story recently circulated about Angelina Jolie’s upcoming drama “First They Killed My Father”: As part of the audition process, children from “orphanages, circuses and slum schools” were made to play a game that involved placing money in front of the kids and asking what they needed it for.

It was part of a Vanity Fair profile on the actress, director, and activist. But Jolie now refutes that detail in a statement provided to the Huffington Post.

“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,” wrote Jolie, who most recently directed “By the Sea.” According to the Vanity Fair cover story in which the story first appeared, “the director would pretend to catch the child” who had just taken the money, “and the child would have to come up with a lie.” Many who read this were outraged.

“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 added. “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.”

“First They Killed My Father” is slated for a Netflix release.

Source: IndieWire film