May December is a fictional story inspired by Mary Kay Letourneau’s infamous relationship with her student. VIII Fualaau – what allowed Julianne Moore to justify his role with a scandalous scandal.
“I really wanted to create a fictional story that explored the pulp culture of the 90s, which seemingly led to the true crime biopic world that we find ourselves in now, and questioned that transition and why we want to keep recreating these stories. “, screenwriter Sami Birch explained her vision during a screening at the New York Film Festival on Friday, September 29.
Birch added: “All of these stories that are on the air are completely embedded in each person’s cultural history.”
Director Todd HaynesMeanwhile, discussed how Moore’s performance was inspired by Letourneau. In 1996, the former teacher made headlines for the statutory rape of Faulau, then her sixth-grade student. She served three months in jail on two counts of second-degree rape and later received a six-year prison sentence for again having contact with Fualaau, now 40. The couple eventually had two children and were married for over a decade before separating in 2019.
May December stars Natalie Portman as an actress named Elizabeth who travels to meet and explore the life of Gracie (Moore), whom she is set to play in the project. Gracie’s infamous affair with Joe (Charles Melton), who is 23 years old, is the hero of a feature film.
“This idea of how do these original relationships come about? What myth do these two people tell each other about their roles?” Haynes spoke during the event about Moore’s character. “She is not a pedophile, this woman; she doesn’t have the experience of stalking every little teenage boy. Something very special happened to these two people.”
Haynes noted that a lot of what keeps Gracie and Joe together is their reluctance to talk about the origins of their relationship.
“But it’s wrapped in fantasy, which is that she’s a princess who needs to be rescued from a home tower, and he’s a young, virile knight, almost like a young Greco-Roman knight, who will come with all this sexual fantasy. masculinity, strength and beauty and save her,” he added. “And here she is playing a little girl.”
Moore, 62, based her voice on past footage of Letourneau, who died at age 58 in 2020 from cancer, Haynes said.
“To be honest, there were some things about Mary Kay Letourneau’s speech that started her off, like the loose upper palate, that we thought was interesting. And she moved on,” Haynes said of Moore’s approach. “(These creative solutions) helped us understand how this happened and what frustrations contributed to it.”
Moore, for her part, previously spoke about her interest in the role ahead of the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike.
“With Gracie, there was a huge amount of judgment thrown at her. She wants to say, “See you later.” Know who I am. Know why I made this choice.” She wants to be known,” the actress told Netflix’s Queue in September. “I think there’s something really interesting about letting someone into your very, very private life so they can explore it and see who you are.”
Moore added: “But of course Gracie also represents the version of herself that she wants to know. I think Elizabeth becomes more dangerous when Gracie realizes she can’t control her narrative.”