Angelina Jolie

The actress and UN special envoy recruited local children to star in her film about Cambodia's Khmer Rouge, First They Killed My Father.

She spoke to Vanity Fair about the film and explained how they used a casting game which involved giving money to poor children then taking it away.

The interview caused outrage, with many accusing Jolie of being "exploitative".

In it, Jolie explains how the directors looked through slums and orphanages to find actors for the film, and were "specifically seeking children who had experienced hardship".

In his first extensive interview since the power couple's highly-publicized divorce, Pitt told GQ Style he will not let things get ugly in court over the couple's six children.

"I just refuse," he said. "And fortunately my partner in this agrees. It's just very, very jarring for the kids, to suddenly have their family ripped apart."

The stars shocked fans in September 2016 when Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt after two years of marriage and more than ten years as a couple.

The actress and her estranged husband are rumoured to have got the tattoos in Cambodia in February 2016 just a few months before they separated.

They were done using an ancient Thai handheld method.

But these aren't just any tattoos, the intricate designs done by ex-monk Ajarn Noo Kanpai are said to spiritually bind the pair as husband and wife.

The actress spoke with the BBC about her new movie, "First They Killed My Father," which she directed and produced.

The Netflix original film tells the story of the Cambodian genocide through the eyes of a child.

It's a project that is near and dear to Jolie's heart. She adopted her first child, son Maddox, from Cambodia after visiting and falling in love with the country 17 years ago, Jolie said.

The actress was speaking exclusively to the BBC before the screening of First They Killed My Father, a true-life account of the Khmer Rouge genocide through the eyes of a child.

She said she hoped the film, which she directed, would help Cambodians to speak more openly about the trauma of the period.

Two million people died.

Jolie, now a UN refugee agency special envoy, first visited Cambodia for the filming of 2001 hit Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.

She later adopted Maddox, her oldest son, from Cambodia.

The estranged couple has agreed to seal all court documents pertaining to their divorce in order to protect their six children.

"The parties and their counsel have signed agreements to preserve the privacy rights of their children and family by keeping all court documents confidential and engaging a private judge to make any necessary legal decisions and to facilitate the expeditious resolution of any remaining issues. The parents are committed to act as a united front to effectuate recovery and reunification," the couple said in a statement obtained by CNN.

In the documents obtained by CNN, Pitt alleges that his estranged wife is "determined to ignore even agreed upon standards relating to the children's best interest."

Pitt asserts Jolie has "no self-regulating mechanism" when it comes to preventing sensitive information from going public -- citing the names of therapists working with the family that were made public in Jolie's previous court filings.

The star has been mostly MIA since his announced split from wife Angelina Jolie in September.

On Tuesday he made an appearance in Los Angeles at a screening for the film "Moonlight" and Wednesday attended an event for his new film, "Allied."

Pitt signed autographs and posed for pictures with fans as he walked the red carpet.

A Facebook Live of the event on the movie's Facebook page featured a brief interview with Pitt as he made his way down the carpet.

"It's really sweet, everyone's been very kind out here," Pitt said. "It's nice to have the support."

A source familiar with the situation told CNN on Wednesday that Pitt has been cleared by the Los Angeles County Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS) in its investigation of an alleged incident of abuse involving Pitt and one of his children.

The accusation stemmed from an incident on a private plane in September -- occurring one day before Angelina Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt after two years of marriage.

That has been the question since Angelina Jolie filed for divorce from Brad Pitt in September -- and it remains in dispute.

Jolie's camp argues there is already an agreement in place that allows her to retain custody of Maddox, 15, Pax, 12, Zahara, 11, Shiloh, 10, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 8.