‘May December’ Stars Respond to Vili Fualaau’s Criticisms

Earlier this month, Vili Fualaau, whose story loosely inspired the screenplay of Netflix’s high-flying drama film May December, took aim at the movie and its creators, criticizing the lack of respect given to his story, given its inspiration is a well-known aspect of the film.

Now, Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore, the two leading women of May December, have taken the opportunity to respond to Fualaau’s comments during an interview with ET at the 81st Golden Globe Awards red carpet ceremony.

Portman, who portrays the character Elizabeth in the film, was sympathetic to Fualaau’s criticisms, but ultimately defended the film, noting that it was “not meant to be a biopic.”

I’m so sorry to hear that. It’s not based on them, it’s, you know, obviously their story influenced the culture that we all grew up in and influenced the idea. But it’s fictional characters that are really brought to life by Julianne Moore and Charles Melton so beautifully, and yeah, it’s its own story, it’s not meant to be a biopic.

In the film, Moore plays Gracie, the character inspired by real-life sex offender Mary Kay Letourneau. She had a similar stance, pointing out that May December was an original story with original characters.

I’m very sorry that he feels that way. I mean, Todd [Haynes] was always very clear when we were working on this movie that this was an original story, this was a story about these characters. So that’s how we looked at it too. This was our document, we created these characters from the page and together.

Both actresses make fair points, but I’d argue that at the root of this issue, it’s not May December‘s handling of its subject matter that’s the problem—it’s the fact that Letourneau and Fualaau’s roles in May December‘s creation, and the resulting association, was made known the way it was.

Acknowledging the Letourneau case’s influence on May December, as director Todd Haynes has in the past, always meant potential for said case to get pushed back into the public eye. And given the volatility of the case, to say nothing of the incredibly vulnerable position Fualaau occupied—and in many ways, continues to occupy—in it, his disdain makes perfect sense.

Fualaau’s anger may arguably be a bit misplaced (though entirely valid), choosing to criticize the film itself rather than the public associations made with his experiences by the film’s creators, but that doesn’t mean Haynes and company are faultless here. May December was an excellent movie, and it would have been excellent regardless of whether or not those Letourneau case inspirations were acknowledged so liberally.

(featured image: Netflix)