Vili Fualaau, the supposed inspiration for Charles Melton’s character in Todd Haynes’s Oscar-hopeful May December, has taken offense at the director’s latest project.
The Carol director’s newest black comedy stars Julianna Moore as Gracie, a former convict jailed for having sexual relations with her young son’s school-aged friend, Joe – played as an adult by Melton. It also stars Natalie Portman as washed-up actor Elizabeth who’s set to portray Gracie in a forthcoming film.
Haynes’s film shares undeniable similarities to the infamous Nineties case of Mary Kay Letourneau, the former school teacher who was convicted of raping then-12-year-old Fualauu when she was 34. They got married in 2005, a year after Letourneau was released from prison.
Screenwriter Samy Burch has previously acknowledged Letourneau’s story as inspiration. However; Fualaau, who is now 40, says he was never contacted by the May December team.
“I’m still alive and well,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “If they had reached out to me, we could have worked together on a masterpiece. Instead, they chose to do a ripoff of my original story.
“I’m offended by the entire project and the lack of respect given to me – who lived through a real story and is still living it,” he said.
“I love movies – good movies,” Fualauu continued. “And I admire ones that capture the essence and complications of real-life events. You know, movies that allow you to see or realise something new every time you watch them.
Julianne Moore and Charles Melton in ‘May December’— (Courtesy of Netflix)
“Those kinds of writers and directors – someone who can do that – would be perfect to work with, because my story is not nearly as simple as this movie [portrays],” he added.
The Independent has contacted the May December team for comment.
Fualauu and Letourneau shared two daughters, one of whom Letourneau gave birth to in prison. The couple divorced in 2019, and Letourneau died in 2020, aged 58, of colon cancer.
Melton’s portrayal of Joe has him tipped for a 2024 Oscar nomination. He has already taken home the Gotham Award for Outstanding Supporting Performance, leaving Riverdale fans to predict a win for him at this year’s Academy Awards.
“Haynes has directed a film with so many deliciously clashing styles that it’s as much a trashy soap as it is a torrid, probing melodrama,” The Independent’s Geoffrey Macnab wrote in his four-star review of the movie.
May December is streaming on Netflix.
