Angelina Jolie denies Vanity Fair anecdote that claimed she taunted children with money in new film

Actress and director says she found excerpt that spoke about an exercise for child actors during filming 'false and upsetting'

Angelina Jolie in the trailer/behind the scenes footage for First They Killed My Father (YouTube/First They Killed My Father)

Angelina Jolie has refuted a excerpt in her Vanity Fair profile which claimed she sought out “children who had experienced hardship” for her film First They Killed My Father and taunted them with money.

The article stated that Jolie “looked at orphanages, circuses, and slum schools, specifically seeking children who had experienced hardship” for the role of Long Ung, but that the casting directors devised a particular game for these children.

“They placed money on a table, asking the child to think of something she needed the money for, and then to snatch it away. The casting director would then pretend to catch the child, with the child being asked to come up with a lie.

“Srey Moch [the girl ultimately chosen for the part] was the only child that stared at the money for a very, very long time,” Jolie said of the game.

“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 description came under fire because it appeared to suggest that vulnerable children were being exploited for the film.

Though Jolie doesn't appear to have been present when the role play was taking place, she did not condemn it in the article.

After the article was published, the anecdote caused uproar on social media where critics accused her of playing a “cruel psychological game” with “impoverished children”.

Responding to the controversy, Jolie has now issued a statement to the Huffington Post where she says she is upset at how the exercise has been portrayed in the article.

“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,“ she said.

She also clarified that “parents, guardians, partner NGOs whose job it is to care for children, and medical doctors were always on hand everyday” to ensure the safety of the children throughout filming and the casting process.

“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,” she said.

The film, which is set to be released on Netflix later this year, has also been criticised for reportedly using soldiers from the controversial Royal Cambodian Armed Forces in the film.

Brad Adams, executive director of Human Rights Watch's Asia Division, told New York Magazine that if the reports were true, they were incredibly problematic.

“Working with the Cambodian army is a no-go zone, it's a red flag, and it's a terrible mistake,” he said.

Jolie's statement to the Huffington Post did not address this allegation, but did say: “The point of this film is to bring attention to the horrors children face in war, and to help fight to protect them.”