Both actresses expressed regret after hearing of Fualaau’s criticism, but they clarified that ‘May December’ was not meant to depict his precise scenario.
In response to Vili Fualaau’s criticism of May December on Sunday, Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore both stated that the film was not intended to recount the precise details of his relationship with his ex-girlfriend Mary Kay Letourneau.
From the 2024 Golden Globes red carpet, Portman told Entertainment Tonight, “It’s not based on them.” It goes without saying that their tale shaped the notion and the culture in which we were all raised. But Julianne Moore and Charles Melton do a pretty great job of bringing the imaginary characters to life.
Gracie (Moore) and Joe (Melton), a married couple, are visited by fictitious actress Elizabeth Berry (Portman) in the narrative of May December. Before being freed from jail for the crime of child rape and becoming married to Joe, Gracie met and mistreated Joe when he was thirteen. She gave birth to one of the couple’s three children while incarcerated. Letourneau, who had a sexual connection with Fualaau in 1996 when he was 12 and she was 34, is credited by screenwriter Samy Burch as an influence for the movie.
The film has “its own story — it’s not meant to be a biopic,” Portman continued.
Todd Haynes, the film’s director, “was always very clear when we were working on this movie that this was an original story,” Moore said, concurring with her co-star. These characters were the subject of this narrative. Thus, it is also how we viewed it. It was our document. These characters are our own creations from the page.
In an article that was released last week, Fualaau expressed his outrage at the “lack of respect given to me” and the project as a whole.
“I’m still here and doing well,” stated 40-year-old Fualaau. We could have collaborated on an incredible piece of art if they had gotten in touch with me. Rather, they opted to undertake a
theft of my own narrative
“I love movies,” he went on. “I love good movies.” And I respect those that effectively convey the complexity and substance of actual events. You know, films that with each viewing let you see or understand something new.